Lightning Guard
by Obsessive Child
Summary: In a world where magic doesn't exist, a normal Harry Potter goes to Namimori in able to escape from his relatives. But then he meets the crazy baby Reborn and Sawada Tsunayoshi... Varia Arc now up!
1. I Daily Life

Lightning Guard

The day was peaceful. It was the third day of spring break, and the sky was clear. Clouds lolled across the sky, meandering in their stroll as if they had all the time in the world. There was a certain crispness in the air that was only present during early spring, and small layers of snow on the places where the cleaners had not touched. There was no wind, at least not at this altitude, and the soft glare of the sun made the place looked like a winter wonderland.

Harry closed his eyes in contentment, leaning against the metal railing of fenced off area and simply enjoying his time. It was his break after all, and though he would have to soon go back to work, he wanted-

"Yo! Potter! Help me with these boxes will you?"

Harry very nearly sighed at the yell from one of his senior co-workers. He pushed himself off the railing, and started walking in the direction of the shout. The animals hooted at him as he walked past, although if they were jeering at him or cheering him he didn't know. Some animals he was good with, some he wasn't. Aunt Marge's dog Ripper for instance, he didn't think would ever like him, but it was a Boa Constrictor which had pretty much cemented his job placement.

Harry felt a wry smile quirk across his lips. He didn't like the Dursleys, but it could be said that it was thanks to them that he got the job he had now. Stonewall High was… a school where the weak could not survive. Luckily, Harry had been able to find a person who was willing to teach him a thing or two, and his own motivation to survive made him practice every day.

It was due to his skills that the zoo had hired him even though he was so young. Well, technically, they didn't know that he was only fourteen years old, but it was obvious he wasn't eighteen, and they hadn't done too thorough of a job researching his background. It was their way of saying they needed the help.

"Potter, finally!" Abukara Hibiki said as soon as Harry made it to his side. The brown eyed man gestured to the tower of boxes that sat behind him, and seeing Harry's confused look, he quickly explained. "This is the new delivery of animal feed. Help me deliver all the boxes to their cages. I know you don't usually do these types of things, but Ihara's too busy running three stations at once and everyone else is on Spring Break."

Oh, right, spring break. Everyone had gone home to their families for the holidays, and it was only about half of the trained workers who had stayed. They all needed the money, and added to that, Harry didn't _have_ a family.

But he didn't mind that, really he didn't. As long as the Dursleys upheld their agreement not to bother him as long as he didn't bother them, he was perfectly fine. He could even ignore the slight pang in his chest when every day passed without the Dursleys checking up on him to make sure he was at least safe.

He was not with the Dursleys anymore. He was in Japan, the birthplace of his mother, and he was getting paid three times the normal wage because he was working on a holiday. With a nod to himself, Harry pushed away his thoughts of his grudging family and got to work.

He moved the boxes, letting Abukara take the bigger ones while he himself took the smaller deliveries. Harry wasn't one of the guys who only cared about showing off; he knew his strengths, and carrying heavy objects wasn't one of them.

He was on his way back from delivering food to the raccoon's den, when he saw them.

Sawada Tsunayoshi and Sasagawa Kyoko.

Harry tensed, unconsciously coming to a halt as he observed his classmates. What where they doing here? It… made sense that they would be here, considering normal people did go to the zoo for leisure, but Harry had been hoping to separate his school life from his part time job. Sure, he often saw his classmates, but it was particularly galling to see Sawada here as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Harry didn't have any friends; his old clothes and inability to go to the arcade due to lack of money had ensured that. To be honest, Harry was secretly jealous of Sawada Tsunayoshi. Somehow, the 'No-good Tsuna' (though Harry never called him that) had gone from world class loser to most desired friend seemingly overnight. Now, Sawada couldn't be found without the 'dangerous but super handsome' (the fangirls' words, not Harry's) Gokudera Hayato and 'Mr. Nice Guy' Yamamoto Takeshi.

Unconsciously, Harry's hand drifted to his neck, where a very thin, barely visible scar rested. Was it possible for him to ever have relationships like that?

And just then, the sky exploded.

Harry's head whipped around, his ears tuned towards the direction of the sound. There! Section 23, Area 8. The lion's den! Quickly spinning on his heels, Harry raced toward the direction of the explosion, hoping beyond hope that just because there was an explosion in the direction of the lion's den didn't mean-

"ROAR!"

Harry felt his heart skip a beat. He was still far away from the lion's den, but he could already see the shining yellow coats of the proud felines in the afternoon sun. So they really had escaped, then. Not allowing himself to slow, Harry reached a hand under his overgrown sweater, fumbling for his weapon.

Just then, Sawada and Sasagawa fumbled into the scene. They ran in from seemingly nowhere, and stopped _just in front of the_ _lions_. They didn't seem to notice it though, because they were laughing as they clutched their sides and chattered happily with each other. Sawada looked relieved, Sasagawa's cheeks were aglow. Harry's mind blanked; how could they not notice-

And then, the lions growled, making their presence known. The two froze, turning as one towards the three snarling lions. It was obvious they hadn't been paying attention to their surroundings. Harry let a curse leave his lips.

"Zoo district report," Ihara's voice sounded over the speakers, "Some lions have escaped due to unexpected explosions destroying the cages. The situation is very dangerous. All visitors, please proceed towards the exit for your own safety."

Harry's heart was pounding in his chest. What a way to understate the situation. But then he supposed, Ihara was only trying to keep the public from panicking. As it was, it was all he could do to keep himself from panicking. He had taken his weapon out, and he was sure he could handle the situation, but- Sawada and Sasagawa had to get out of there, so _why weren't they moving_?

And then, a lion leapt. Its target-

Sasagawa screamed.

Harry's hand was moving before he was even conscious of it himself. Hours of training helped, he supposed. A long, silver chain glinted in the sunlight, flying ten meters within a second and wrapping around the lion's neck. The chain tightened, and Harry _pulled_. He threw all of his weight into the pull, just as his teacher had taught him.

The lion sailed sideways, just barely past Sasagawa, who was its target. Although, it seemed as if Sawada had gotten in front of Sasagawa during the lion's leap, but Harry didn't time to analyze the information. Harry wasn't strong, but his technique was good, and the lion's momentum was disturbed. The thing was, the lion seemed to realize who had disturbed his hunt for an appetizing meal.

The lion roared, and bounded towards him. Harry rocked on the balls of his feet, and readied his chain. His heart was pounding loudly in his ears. He was going to die… he was going to die… he was going to die…!

"Why aren't you guys helping him?" Harry heard Sawada scream.

"Well," It was Gokudera's voice, "He looks like he's taking care of it."

"Yeah!" Sasagawa. The senior one. "I saw him fighting that lion, and I decided it would be EXTREMELY uncool to butt in."

Harry gritted his teeth as the lion descended upon him, and let loose his chain in a complex pattern of swishes. Uncool to butt into a fight WITH A LION? Just how crazy were these people?

The lion let out another roar at the onslaught of the chain, and fell down sideways as his legs refused to support him anymore. Harry's chains had wrapped around the feline completely, rendering it unable to move. Other than the head, the animal's whole body was covered in metal, with the chains fastening the lion's feet to its body.

Harry felt his beating heart abate ever so slightly, but he could still feel the blood in his ears from the unbelievable situation he had just been in. He had been so close to death, and if it weren't for his teacher's special technique, it might have been him lying there instead of the lion. This was crazy. Even though the zoo had hired him especially for situations like this, Harry didn't think it would actually ever happen. He sat down, spent.

"Ah!" Sawada cried, racing over to him. Sawada went to his knees, his eyes shining with worry, "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Harry breathed, shaking his head. He could hardly believe what he had done. He had taken out a lion… wait, wasn't it three lions that had escaped? Eyes widening, Harry quickly looked around, wondering where the other two lions were. He found them in an instant. Both were knocked out, sprawled over the floor of where the rest of Sawada's group were. Harry's eyes widened, "Did you- the other two-?"

Yamamoto was the only one who seemed to understand what he was talking about. The baseball player walked over, smiling sheepishly, "Oh, yeah, we took out the other two. Don't worry, we didn't hurt them. Hey, you're Potter-san, right?"

Harry blinked, cocking his head. He didn't know that Yamamoto had known who he was. Unlike 'No-good' Tsuna, whom everyone knew as a loser, Harry simply didn't stand out at all. Added to that, he was Yamamoto's senior, so really the baseball player had no reason to know his name. If anyone knew who he was, it should have been…

"Oh!" Sasagawa's eyes widened, seeming to appear out of nowhere. There was a baby with a fedora on his shoulder. "EXTREME! I didn't know you had such impressive abilities Potter-san! You must… JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!"

"Yes," The baby said, surprisingly articulate and mature-sounding. He tipped down the edge of his hat, looking at Harry speculatively, "Your abilities are impressive… Potter-san."

Harry stiffened. His last teacher had shown an unusual interest in his last name as well, though Harry had only seen that in hindsight. Question was, why was a baby interested?

The baby's eyes sharpened, perhaps reading his unease, and then the baby smiled. All of the sudden, it was as if all the menace drained out of the little guy, and all that was left was adorable innocence, "Want to join the family?"

…what?

"Reborn!" Sawada yelled, looking affronted, "Stop inviting everyone I meet into the mafia!"

Harry's eyes widened. WHAT?

"Hehe, don't take them so seriously," Yamamoto laughed with wink towards Harry, "It's a game, you know? It's all in good fun. We're all 'mafia' members, and Sawada is our big boss. This baby is the world's number one hitman."

Oh. Right. A game. Of course.

"So," The baby said again, "Want to join?"

"I- I don't-"

"POTTER!"

Harry's head jerked at the shout. He shakily got to his feet, looking towards the direction of the yell. Sawada, Yamamoto, and Sasagawa all looked at each other, then also followed Harry's eyes. Only the baby had not taken his eyes off the green haired boy. Harry shivered slightly at the intensity of the stare, but quickly brushed it off- it was only a baby, right? Instead, he focused his attention on Ihara, who was running towards him.

"Potter!" Ihara yelled again, skidding to a stop directly in front of Harry and immediately bending over with his hands on his knees. He let out a few gasping breaths, before taking a look around with a shine in his eyes, "Oh! I knew you were dependable! You took care of all the lions already!"

Harry blinked, his cheeks flushing, "Um I- I didn't-"

"No need to be modest," Ihara waved Harry off, before straightening and looking at the teen seriously, "Thing is Potter, we need to fix the cages. Don't know what rowdy idiot blew them up, but we can't let the zoo continue with things like this. We need to fix things first, you see."

"O-oh," Harry stammered, "Well that's alright. Just show me how to fix things and-"

Ihara shook his head, once again cutting Harry off. "No, we already have specialists inspecting the cages. I'm just telling you… you're relieved for the day. Actually, you're relieved until further notice. We're not quite sure how long the inspections will take, and until then, the zoo is closed."

"Wh-wh-what? But- but- but-"

"Sorry Harry," Ihara said morosely, before suddenly grinning and giving a pat to Harry's shoulder, "But this isn't so bad, is it? I mean, now you can spend the rest of the holidays with your parents. I'm sure that not working for a couple of days won't make a huge dent in your university savings."

Harry closed his eyes, wanting to shout that _yes it would_. It would because he wasn't just saving for university, but also using the money he earned to buy his dinner every day. But- but he couldn't say that to Ihara. So, Harry opened his eyes, and nodded understandingly, "Alright. Thanks for the notice."

"Great!" Ihara handed Harry a needle, "Here's a tranquilizer for the lions. You can use it so you can get back your chain. The animal tamers will be here shortly. See you later, Potter."

With that, Ihara left, leaving Harry with three curious teens. Harry sighed, and knelt down beside the lion he had captured. He put the tranquilizer in the lion's neck, and then got to unwrapping his chain from the beast. He worked in silence for a while, until finally, one of his companions couldn't seem to take it anymore.

"You work, Potter-san?" Sawada asked, even his voice sounded wide-eyed.

You weren't supposed to have a job if you attended Namimori High. Especially if you were a scholarship student.

"Hey, let's not tell anyone, alright Tsuna?" Yamamoto said teasingly, "The money's going towards university after all."

"YEAH!" Sasagawa agreed loudly, "It'd be EXTREMELY uncool of us to tell everyone that Potter-san worked! Especially if it's for as noble of a goal as university!"

Harry sighed as he finished unwrapping the last bit of his chain. He quickly stowed it away under his shirt again, and stood to face the three. He would rather have them not have discovered his job at all, but as it was… "Thank you. Could you please also tell the rest of your crew…?"

Sawada seemed to understand what Harry wanted to ask. The brown haired boy quickly nodded, "Ye-yeah! Of course I'll ask them not to say anything. Thanks for saving me!"

Harry blushed, ducking his head in embarrassment, "Anyone would have. Besides, it looked like you didn't need me to intervene anyway."

"Haha," Sawada's laugh was almost nervous, which was a little odd, "I'm not like _them_. I would have certainly gotten killed by those lions."

Harry's head jerked up in surprise, and then he smiled, even if it was a small one. Sawada's friends were _unique_, that was for sure. Sawada himself though… now Harry felt bad for ever being jealous. If it was one person who deserved a good life, it was Sawada. "Your… friends _are_ pretty insane, aren't they? Not a bad thing, but…"

Sawada let out another laugh, a more sincere one this time. He beamed at Harry, "I know exactly what you mean."

Yamamoto raised a brow, and elbowed the brown haired boy in the ribs, "Hey, hey, I'm not insane, am I?"

Sawada flushed, "I- uh- I mean-"

The baseball player laughed.

"So," It was the baby again. He was smiling. "Want to join our family?"

"Yeah," Yamamoto grinned, "Join the mafia, Harry-kun."

Sawada let out a loud sigh, before turning to Harry with earnest eyes, "Just ignore them. They're… well."

It turned out that the purpose of Sawada coming to the zoo (at least according to the baby) was to get an animal. Harry thought it was a ridiculous notion, and Sawada did as well, but everyone else seemed to buy it. In the end, they decided that Sawada deserved a lion, only for Harry to point out that they weren't _allowed_ to keep any zoo animals. The baby had still been for it even after Harry's warning (and so was the crazy half-italian lady), but thankfully no one else was willing to break the law. It seemed that they somehow had forgotten about that before they decided to find Sawada an animal.

They parted ways soon after, leaving Harry to wandering aimlessly about for a couple of hours before he finally headed home. He didn't mind the free time. He actually enjoyed being outside, but he never did have much free time. Today might have been something of a blessing in disguise. Sawada's group was interesting, that was for sure.

The next day, Harry awoke to the sunlight. Blinking blearily, Harry rolled out of his bed and did his usual morning activities, before he realized that he had nothing to do. He'd already completely all of his homework last night, and he had no job today. Being poor really left him little options about boredom.

Harry bit his lip, hesitating over what to do for a moment, before finally sighing and walking towards the Sakura grounds. Since he had nothing to do, he might as well find a good Hanami site.

He wandered around for about an hour, before finally—

"Wow," Harry breathed. He had come across the perfect place; even he could imagine how beautiful this place would be once the wind started blowing.

And then, a man stepped out from behind one of the tree trunks. No, on second look, it was just a boy, and a boy that Harry recognized. Akira Mitsuya, from Harry's year. That hairstyle… Harry instantly tensed.

"This place is off-limits," the disciplinary member said, narrowing his eyes at the dark haired boy, "All the Sakura trees around here have been reserved."

So he wasn't in trouble yet, then. Harry breathed a small sigh of relief, and nodded, "Alright. Bye then."

He turned around, intending to get out of there, but then he saw—

"Woo! Lucky!"

"We're the first ones here!"

"So… lucky… now I don't have to die…"

Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Sawada were walking towards him, looking at the Sakura trees with reverence. Oh. No.

"Oh!" Sawada was the first one to notice him, his face breaking into a smile as he saw Harry, "Potter-san, you're here too."

To Sawada's side, Gokudera seemed to narrow his eyes at Harry, growling darkly. Harry smiled nervously.

"Like I told your friend," Mitsuya sneered, taking a step forward, "This place is off limits."

Yamamoto narrowed his eyes, "Hey, that's not fair. It's not like this is private property."

"I never said this was open for discussion. If you don't leave, you better watch out."

Gokudera growled, and darted forward. Before anyone could react, he had already placed a kick in into Mitsuya's gut. Mitsuya dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Gokudera raised his fists threateningly, "Shut up. The Tenth can go wherever he wants."

A sound of a sigh drifted through the air. Everyone froze.

A dark haired boy stepped out from behind a Sakura tree, a wicked smirk that promised pain splattered across his face, "I was wondering who was being so noisy, so it's you guys?"

"Hibari-senpai!" Sawada screeched, jumping back in surprise, "Ah! He's a member of the disciplinary committee!"

Harry threw Sawada an odd glance. Did he not realize that the person Gokudera had attacked was also a member of the disciplinary committee? Then again, the disciplinary committee was only really relevant for Third Years, and out of all of them, Hibari was the most famous…

"I don't want to view Sakura with a crowd, so I got him to chase people off," Hibari said blandly, before turning to look down at Mitsuya, "It seems you weren't of much use. I'll take care of the rest."

"Pres-president."

"Weaklings…" Hibari smiled sinisterly, and in an instant Harry saw what he was going to do. Hibari lashed out, and Harry did too. A silver chain flew through the air, wrapping itself around Mitsuya's arm before going taunt. Hibari struck with his tonfa, but Harry was somehow quicker.

With a hard tug, Mitsuya was pulled out from Hibari's range, though the tonfa still gazed his elbow. Mitsuya landed with a cry of pain, but even he had to know it was nothing compared to the pain of what would have happened had Hibari's full blow landed.

Breathing hard, Harry tugged his chain again, unwrapping it from Mitsuya's arm. Another tug, and the chain flew back to Harry's side, like a snake which wanted its master.

Hibari's eyes narrowed, "Potter Harry, you have taken my meal."

Harry shook his head furiously, "You shouldn't hurt your own people!"

Everyone was gaping at him. Harry flushed, but didn't back down. This was exactly what he had wanted to avoid— attention, especially from the head of the disciplinary committee himself. Harry was a scholarship student, and the last thing he needed was a few wrong words to the right people. Still… Harry scowled, he wasn't afraid of Hibari and he wasn't going to stand for bullying.

"Ah!" Suddenly, the voice of a stranger cut into the midsts, before things could get out of hand. It was the voice of a man. "What a nice view! Sakura viewing is such a nice thing."

Almost as one, the crowd of teenagers changed their attention from Harry to the speaker, blinking in surprise as they saw a thirty year old man with a bottle of beer in his hand, hiccupping as he leaned against a tree trunk.

When he saw their gazes, he gave a crooked grin, "Ah, gross. It's all men."

"Doctor Shamal!" Sawada gasped out, his voice sounding particularly loud in the presence of everyone else's silence.

It figured that Sawada would know him.

Gokudera seemed to develop a twitch in his eye, "You still haven't left yet, you pervert doctor? Womanizer!"

And then, Harry remembered. He blinked, and looked at the 'Doctor Shamal' more closely. No way… it was the Head Nurse for Nammimori Middle School. Harry had never been to the nurse's office himself (he tried to avoid it as much as he could) but even he had heard about the Head Nurse's womanizing ways. How in the world did Sawada and Gokuder know him so— on second thought, with the type of things Sawada seemed to get involved in, maybe such an associate wasn't so outrageous after all.

"I got him to come."

It was then that Harry noticed the little baby (though Harry was seriously wondering if it _really_ was a baby, and not just some super-midget) Reborn sitting on the Sakura branch right above Doctor Shamal.

Sawada's mouth fell wide open, "Even Reborn's here?"

Doctor Shamal sighed, taking another chug of his bottle, looking completely lethargic and completely ignoring the questions directed at him. "Why don't you guys invite some cute girls to come…?"

And then, what seemed to be a genuine smile spread across Hibari's face. "Hey kid, it's nice to see you again."

"We want to see the Sakura too," Reborn replied with a serene smile, "How about it Hibari? Tsuna says to compete using the spot as a prize."

"What?" Sawada yelled, "Why are you dragging me into this?"

"A game…" Hibari cocked his head, "Fine. I've been wanting to kill you guys anyway. How about you four each fight me separately? Whoever has their knee touch the ground loses."

"WHAT?" Sawada was pulling at his hair, "We're fighting?"

Harry frowned, "This is unfair. It's disadvantageous to you."

"If the baby does not fight," Hibari said in reply, "I will be at no disadvantage."

Harry's eyes narrowed. Hibari acted as if they were all beneath him— acted as if they were not worth even the slightest bit of his attention. Sawada's gang had taken down lions, and that was no joke. But Hibari… So arrogant. Just like Jack, just like Tanto, just like Dudley…

"Hey… aren't you feisty?" Doctor Shamal said with a grin, approaching the disciplinary committee member, "Do you have a sister?"

Not even giving Doctor Shamal so much as a blink, Hibari lashed out, sending the perverted doctor flying. Doctor Shamal landed with a thump, groaning loudly. Hibari looked at the man coldly, "Scram."

Harry's eye twitched. He had thought Hibari could go no lower, but he was wrong. Hibari had just attacked a member of the staff, a man dedicated to a life of healing. And, Hibari was not the least bit sorry. Just. Like. Dudley. With a hiss, Harry slid his chain through his fingers, cracking it against the floor.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"You want a match against four people?" Harry said in an oddly cold voice, "I'm afraid you'll only get this one. Sawada, I'm going."

"Um Potter-san, you don't have to…"

"No," Harry shook his head, and then gave a tight smile in Hibari's direction, "But someone needs to teach this overgrown hyena that respect can't be commanded through violence."

Hibari narrowed his eyes, "Potter Harry, you have never made any disturbances at Nammimori Middle School, so I was never inclined to kill you. But now… you will die along with these riffraff."

With that, Hibari shifted into a fighting stance, raising one tonfa to guard his chest and the other his side. Already in his fighting stance, Harry instead watched for Hibari, watching for an opening. There was none…

Sawada didn't seem so ready to give up, "Po-Potter-san…!"

"Tsuna!" Reborn's cute voice seemed oddly harsh, though Harry was just barely making it out. His attention was solely focused on Hibari. "Just watch."

Harry's mind raced. Hibari's strength and speed were immense, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to break Mitsuya's bone with one hit, or knock back a full grown adult. Added to that, his stance was one of professionals, one who had seen a lot of fighting and knew how to react to it. This match would be tough.

…but, Harry wasn't just an ordinary middle school student either. He had attended Stonewall High before coming to Japan after all— the school for delinquents. Harry shifted his stance, and then flew towards Hibari.

If there was no opening, Harry would just have to make one.

Hibari narrowed his eyes, twisting his body to avoid Harry's collision and using his right tonfa to strike down on the green eyed boy. Harry barely dodged out of the way, having to resort to a giving himself a push with his left hand in able to get himself out of there without his knee touching the ground.

Hibari followed up with another strike, but by that time Harry had already jumped out of there, his chain in a perfect position around Hibari's leg. Hibari leapt at him, and Harry pulled, intending to make the older boy trip and lose the match. Hibari was not one easily tricked though. Making a noise of discontentment, the other boy leaped, jumping out of Harry's loop just as the chain clanked together.

Harry didn't let that still him. Now that Hibari was in the air, he had his chance. Maneuvering his chain like a snake, Harry forced his chain upwards, not letting it a moment's reprieve. Hibari flipped his tonfa, sticking the chain downwards as he flipped through the air. As soon as he landed, he shot towards Harry again, murder intent in his eyes.

Harry gritted his teeth, and retracted his chain quickly. He knew he was no match for Hibari in close range, so… With one fluid motion, Harry tugged his chain upwards, towards the branch of a Sakura tree. It twisted once, twice, three times, before Harry gave it a hard yank and lifted himself into the air just as Hibari appeared in front of him again.

Using the acrobatics he had learned from his teacher, Harry flipped in the air, landed on a high branch of a Sakura tree. There, Hibari shouldn't be able to reach him—

Harry's eyes widened as a tonfa flew towards him, spinning rapidly to gain weight and speed. Quickly, Harry whipped out the other end of his chain so that he could block it, knocking it to the floor just as another tonfa struck the trunk of the tree, acting as a stepping stone for Hibari as he shot up towards Harry's branch.

For just a second, Harry could only gape at Hibari; was it possible to leap that high? But he did it, and Hibari was coming towards Harry… fast.

And then he was there.

Hibari took a swipe at Harry, forcing the green eyed boy to dodge and— his foot hit empty air. Eyes wide, Harry's weight left the tree branch, his body arching backwards as he fell head first towards the ground. Quickly, Harry extended his arms, his palms being the first to kiss the weathered ground as he bent his elbows, taking the brunt of his momentum as he had been taught. He flipped himself sideways, extending the force of his fall over a longer distance.

Harry landed in a crouch, but as soon as he landed, he felt a hostile presence above him. Harry dodged automatically, narrowly missing the hard steel of police weaponry as it smashed into the place where he had been previously. Hibari was standing over him, one tonfa in hand.

Somehow, the disciplinary committee member had gotten his weapon back.

Harry's mind raced; this wasn't good, wasn't good at all. He currently didn't have his chain with him, and Hibari was going to—

_Thud_.

Hibari fell to his knees, staring dazedly forwards as his weapon threatened to drop from his hand.

Huh?

"Po-Potter-san!" Sawada said in amazement, "Yo-you-you're amazing!"

"But I— I didn't—" Harry stuttered.

"It wasn't Potter-san," Reborn offered, climbing to his feet. He pointed towards the left, and everybody turned to see Doctor Shamal, "He did it."

Doctor Shamal groaned, seeming to rise from unconsciousness, "Hey, ow… it wouldn't do to wreck my handsome face."

"Shamal released the trident mosquito on Hibari the second he was hit," Reborn explained.

Sawada's mouth dropped open, "That drunk is that strong?"

"Sorry," Shamal said with a smile as he picked himself up from the floor and walked over to Sawada and co, "But I've faced far more life-and-death situations than you have. On a side note, the disease that he has is one where he can't stand up near Sakura. The Sakura Disorientation Syndrome."

"Hibari-san!" Sawada said worriedly as Hibari struggled to get up.

"Rules are rules," Hibari said, "Go ahead and enjoy the Sakura."

And then, he left.

"Now we can finally view the Sakura," Yamamoto smiled, then turned to Harry, "Thanks for helping, Potter-san."

"Um… it wasn't really me…"

Gokudera crossed his arms, a scowl on his face, "I could have taken that no good Hibari! The Tenth could have as well!"

Sawada laughed nervously, "Gokudera-kun…"

"TSUNA!"

They turned around as one, spotting a slew of girls and young children who had been at the zoo yesterday.

Sawada smiled, "You guys…"

"Hahi?" One of the girls gasped in surprise, stalking over to Harry and peering at him with wide interested eyes. Harry shifted uncomfortably, not really sure about the invasion of personal space. Suddenly, the girl jumped back, clapping her hands together and a brilliant smile on her face, "Ah! You're the one who helped us with the lions the other day!"

"And he helped us fight off Hibari today," Yamamoto smiled.

"Really?" Sasagawa shouted, "EXTREME!"

"Oh, um…" Harry smiled weakly, "Are you all here to view the Sakura as well? I guess I'll get going then."

"Ehhhh?" The personal-bubble girl exclaimed, "What do you mean you're leaving? You helped us today, didn't you?

"Yeah, and besides, you got here first." Yamamoto said persuasively, "If anyone should go, it should be us."

"We're not leaving," grunted the long haired half-Italian lady with a glare towards Harry, "So you'd better stay."

"If you don't mind…" the younger Sasagawa smiled cutely, "Then you're welcome to stay! Right, Tsuna?"

"Ri-right Kyoko," Sawada gulped, and then turned to Harry with a genuine smile, "Please celebrate Hanami with us, Potter-san!"

And then, just like that, Harry spent his quiet, peaceful, and restful Hanami with the crazy Sawada crew. Surprisingly, he didn't have a hard time fitting in; it was almost as if he had always been there. No one tried to exclude him, or make him feel unwanted, although it was only in hindsight that he realized that. It was… unnerving.

Lambo started yelling half-way through and throwing what looked like grenades around (but that couldn't be possible, could it?) while Gokudera seemed to have a seizure. Bianchi gave them all delicious looking cakes, which in a fit completely unlike him, Sawada destroyed. Hanami with Sawada's crew as the furthest thing from quiet, peaceful, and restful that Harry had ever experienced. But… as he quickly made a small grass bracelet for Lambo because the baby had seen I-pin's and gotten jealous, Harry found that didn't mind it at all.

It was nice. Very different and— and—

"Potter-san, what's the matter?" Sawada asked worriedly as he saw Harry's downturned face. Everyone else was still acting as chaotic as ever, not noticing the two normal citizens and their quiet conversation.

"It's nothing," Harry muttered, still staring at the grass. All the girls and children had requested for a grass bracelet, and Harry had made one for everyone. He'd learnt to do it himself when he was younger, and wanted to pretend that he had a friend to share such things with. To now actually have real people whom he could do only the things that he had imagined…

"Actually," Harry said suddenly, "I don't think I'll do this again."

"E-eh?" Sawada looked taken aback.

"I don't think it's a good idea for me to meet with your group anymore," Harry clarified.

"O-oh," Sawada said, looking sad, "Okay, I understand. We're too weird, right? And you got into trouble with Hibari-senpai because of us and— I… understand."

Harry bit his lip, but didn't comment. It wasn't because of that, but like he could tell Sawada the real reason he didn't want to see any of them again. Like he could tell Sawada that he was afraid all this was nothing but a fairytale, a lie. Like Harry could tell Sawada he was afraid that if they knew his past, they'd hate him. That would lead to too many uncomfortable questions that Harry would never answer. And then… wouldn't that just make a tense atmosphere in a circle of close friends? No, Harry couldn't join Sawada's group, no matter how much he yearned for it. The normal life was never meant for him.

"Thanks for today," Harry said quietly, getting up and brushing off his pants. "It was fun. So… goodbye."

And then he left before anyone could question him.

* * *

Harry scanned the class placements, hoping that it was just some sort of error in reading –possibly because he hadn't gotten new glasses in a long time—, but sadly there was no mistaking it. With a grimace, Harry backed up from the sheet of paper which told everyone who's class they were going to be in this year, and allowed the people behind him to finally get a view.

It was karma! He knew there wouldn't have been any good outcome from fighting Hibari Kyoya for a Sakura site a few days ago, but his fight hadn't only been about the Sakura! He'd been genuinely mad that Hibari had so mistreated his subordinates. Still… did that excuse Harry's behaviour?

It really wasn't his place to dictate what was what in the disciplinary committee; for all he knew, they could have super-strict rules about the consequences of joining and if the members knew they could be mistreated yet still signed themselves up for that… did Harry have the right to interfere? But at the same time… Harry couldn't stand and do nothing as someone was getting beaten up.

Besides, it wasn't as if Harry were scared of Hibari Mr. Hot Shot, and he wanted to show that. On the other hand… Harry's situation at school was precarious at best, and he was here solely on scholarship. He was even doing an illegal job. Getting the attention of the school's most influential student might not have been a good idea.

Well, hopefully, Hibari will have forgotten about the whole thing already; it had happened a few days ago after all, and now, it was the start of a new school term.

Just as Harry finished convincing himself that his rash actions wouldn't have any long term consequences, he felt a hostile presence behind him. He had developed the instinct from Dudley; trying to avoid the Harry-hunting games. His teacher had perfected it for him.

Harry whipped around, narrowing his eyes at the three middleschoolers who looked to be around his age. He thought he knew who they were, and if he remembered correctly, they were in his class this year.

"Well, well," One of the middleschoolers said, his eyes narrowing, "If it isn't the foreigner, Potter Harry-san."

"Half the school has mixed blood," Harry said warily, not too sure what the three wanted, "Including the newest addition, Gokudera Hayato."

"My, well informed, aren't we?" The leader said with a mischievous grin, before turning to the other two with a contemplating voice, "Still, he's being a little cheeky, don't you think, boys?"

The other two nodded like cattle.

Harry tensed, ever so slightly. This seemed…

"Ah, ah," The leader wagged his finger, "No need to be so tense. We won't hurt you… as long as you're our friend. You are our friend, aren't you?"

"And what are the requirements of being your 'friend'?" Harry asked warily.

The leader beamed, "Oh, you are so smart! Yes, yes, friends do help each other out you know. I heard that you had the highest average last year, and I just don't have time to do homework, you know. It's really a shame, and the teacher just doesn't understand. But you understand, right…?"

Harry felt his body relax. Oh. Just typical bullies, then, wanting him to do homework for them. For some reason, the thought that they may be related to Sawada somehow had flashed across his mind. Weird, huh? Why would the thought of someone being related to Sawada make him all nervous? Harry smiled sweetly, "Huh, yeah, I think I do. I think the best thing is… to quit some of your other activities. Not everyone has the time management skills to do more than two things at once. It's okay, you don't need to be ashamed."

The triumphed look in the leader's eyes slowly disappeared. Once again, his eyes narrowed, "I don't think you understand."

"Oh?" Harry asked with deceptive ease, his hand shifting close to where he stored his chain. "Look, I'd love to hear you explain what you mean, but I really can't stand here for three days."

He smiled at their stunned faces, and calmly pushed past the trio, decisively making his steps towards the main school entrance.

"You!" the boy's voice was furious, but it didn't cause Harry to pause. "Misato! Kouga! Get him!"

He heard the two charging at him, and his body tensed. The familiar hiss of his chain greeted him as he took it out from underneath his school uniform, and cast it behind.

They stood no chance, really. It was almost sad.

As Harry stared down at the writhing bodies of the trio he had quickly dispatched of, he sighed. He quickly tucked his chain back underneath his clothes, its purposes done for the day. Harry wished he could have gone to a faculty member for this, but then he'd just be labelled as a rat and he'd get no peace. He knew how the system worked; the Dursleys and Stonewall had taught him that much.

Still… his hand twitched. Maybe he shouldn't have been so hard on the three. Certainly, he hated their type the most, but he wasn't exactly an advocate of bringing pain, either. But… to be honest he didn't know how to hold back. His teacher had taught him for offense after all, not defence. Still, maybe he should practice or some—

And it was then, that Harry felt a fourth, hostile presence.

Harry leapt sideways, the sudden swish of the air telling him that somebody was attacking. Impossible; did the trio have a fourth member that they kept hidden just for incidences like this? But if so… why? Harry landed a couple of paces away, looking in astonishment at the person who had surprised him.

It was Hibari, standing there with all his glory, tonfas in hand and a contemptuous look on his face.

Uh-oh.

"For causing disturbances at my school, I will bite you to death."

"But I— I didn't—"

Hibari readied his tonfa, looking ready to charge, but then—

"Ciaossu."

Hibari froze. Eyes hooding, the purebred Japanese boy looked towards the source of the voice, "Baby."

Reborn was sitting on a pole, swinging his legs happily as if he hadn't just stopped the school's most terrifying occupant. He tipped down his fedora, and jumped off the pole, landing smartly between Harry and Hibari, "I'd like to speak with Harry-kun. Can you please postpone the date of your duel?"

"Tch," Hibari sheathed his tonfas, and just like that, walked away.

Reborn nodded after him, before turning to the green eyed boy with a small smile, "He shouldn't bug you anymore after this."

Harry just looked at the super-midget warily, "Why'd you help me?"

He'd been avoiding Sawada's group for the rest of the break, so the midget really had no reason to notice him.

"Because," Reborn replied, his smile growing wider, "You'll be part of the family soon, and family members help each other."

That… didn't really make sense. But then again, Harry got the feeling that Reborn wasn't talking about the same type of family Harry was thinking about. Still… "I've already told Sawada that I've decided not to—"

"I know what you told Tsuna," Reborn interrupted, his black eyes glinting, "But I don't think that's your true feelings. I suppose I won't ask you for an answer right away, but you would be a great addition."

"Uh…" What the heck? Harry opened his mouth to ask more questions, but it was then that the bell rang. He cursed; he had lost track of time because of the craziness of first the bullies, Hibari, and now Sawada's crazy gang. He was going to be late, and on the first day too! Not a good impression to make on the teacher. With a quick apology to Reborn, Harry scurried off to his classroom, not taking a single glance back.

The first day went off without a hitch. Despite the fact that Hibari was in his class, thanks to Reborn, the disciplinary committee head didn't look so much as twice Harry's way. He even figured out who the three bullies were, since they were also in his class. Kijima, Masato, and Kouga; but he didn't think they'd be bothering him again anytime soon. Soon, school was over, and Harry was headed home.

When he did get back to his place of residence, Harry quickly took out all his school work, intending to get it done so that he wouldn't be behind when his job started up again. To his surprise, he found a note in his bag that he was sure he hadn't put there. Frowning, Harry opened it.

_Dear 'friend'_, it said, _won't you reconsider our offer? If not, we could make life miserable for you. Meet us at the warehouse at ten pm. You'll regret messing with us. Guys like us can do anything._

Harry read it again, and then a third time, before he finally just leant back and stared at the note in wide eyed disbelief. Seriously? There was no confirmation on the note, but it was pretty obvious who it was from. After the beating he had given them… they still wanted more?

Of course, the time and the destination showed that it had to be a trap, but… Harry felt his eyebrow twitch. But at the same time, it was an obvious challenge. Should he just turn it down? Despite knowing that it was a trap, how good could the trap be? Harry was somewhat confident in his skills, and he was sure that whatever the trio sprung on him, he could handle it. It was actually very insulting that they thought they could take him down that way; he'd show them.

Yeah, if he didn't go meet them today, then there was no way that he'd get peace. He was sure that they'd pester him in all the little ways at school, and he really didn't need that. He wouldn't get a chance to beat them up at school, not with Hibari watching his every move, so the warehouse opportunity was perfect really. Harry would show them to fear scholarship students.

That decided, Harry got back to his homework, and didn't think about them again until it was time to leave.

He decided to get to the warehouse a half an hour earlier than was the destined time, so that the trio wouldn't have time to set up anything weird. As confident as he was of his skills, he's still like to avoid the trap situation as best he could. At nine-thirty, he arrived at the one warehouse in Namimori.

Something felt… very off. Maybe it was just the lack of light, or maybe it was just the menacing figure the warehouse made, but Harry just didn't feel… secure. He hesitated in going in. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Yeah, he'd just go home. Who knew what kind of weird trap those three made and—

"AAAHHHHHH!"

A feminine scream cut through the night, shaking Harry's senses. Before he knew what he was doing, he was racing inside the warehouse, where he had heard the scream originate from. What he saw froze him in his tracks.

Kijima, Masato, and Kouga were at the far end of the warehouse, a helpless middleschool girl between them. She was tied to a chair, silent tears streaming down her face as she was held at knife's point. This was… too much…

_Guys like us can do anything._

"Oh," Kijima smirked, his expression wicked as he drew the knife against the terrified woman's face, "A little early aren't we? I knew you would be. You are that type of browner. We've prepared a present for you, to ensure that you'd show the right amount of respect towards us."

"This— she has— how could you do something like this? Let her go!"

"Are you going to make us?" Kijima asked confidently, "How 'bout this? Bow to us three times and we'll consider it. And I don't mean a greeting bow either. I mean, get on the floor, kissing the ground type of bowing."

Harry gritted his teeth; this was… this was…

"Oh, and you'd better hurry with your decision," Kijima added almost carelessly, "Or else we might get bored waiting and decide to entertain ourselves by playing tic-tac-toe on this lady's lovely little face."

The girl started hyperventilating, staring at Harry with large, frightened eyes.

Harry felt his heart clench. He couldn't allow an innocent to get hurt in this. Eyes burning, Harry bent his waist… and let loose his chain. Kijima was too surprised to react, and Harry managed to knock the knife from his hand before he could so much as blink. And then, Harry darted forward, moving the chain like a snake, biting only his enemies. Kijima and the rest were knocked down within seconds.

It was a good thing he had decided to wrap his chain around his arms instead of his waist; just in case he needed the milliseconds of access.

"Are you alright?" Harry questioned, racing to the girl.

"Ye-yeah," The girl breathed, still staring at Harry with large black eyes, "Um… could you please untie me?"

"Sure," Harry agreed readily, and moved his hands towards her— only to freeze at her blush. Only then did he realize a lot of the knots were done up her front, which led to… very awkward places. Those utter _prats_. They'd probably groped her as they tied her up.

The girl seemed to deduce that something was wrong, and quickly suggested a way to rectify the situation, "Why don't you untie my hands first? So I can help you with the rest of the knots."

Harry agreed, and quickly untied her hands. Then, he started at her feet, with her doing her chest and midriff. After a while, the girl let out a sigh of frustration, "I can't do it. These knots are too tight. Could you pass me that dagger please?"

"Sure," Harry said, and reached for the dagger. Just as he was about to hand it to the girl however, he paused, "Hey, why don't I just cut all your ropes for you from the back of the chair."

The girl seemed to freeze for a minute, and then, shyly, she cast a glance at Kijima. Instantly, Harry understood. She had been threatened by a guy with a dagger after all, so of course she wouldn't want him to cut the ropes for her. Feeling stupid, Harry just silently handed the utensil to the middleschool girl.

She smiled brightly at him, and got to cutting her ropes. While she did that, Harry went to check on the three idiots, and saw that they were all unconscious. He contemplated waking them all up and giving them a severe lecture, but decided that he shouldn't do that with a girl in the room. He'd come back later after he delivered her home; at ten o'clock, just as he promised. They wouldn't be going anywhere.

Nodding to himself, Harry turned back to the girl, who had just finished cutting. When she saw him looking, she smiled, and got up… only to fall to the floor with a cry of pain.

"Eh, what's the matter?" Harry ran over to her, kneeling down beside her as she struggled to a sitting position.

She looked up at him, a grimace on her face, "I think… I've been sitting in the chair for too long. My legs are probably cramped. Can you help me up?"

"Uh… sure," Harry said with a blush as she scooted closer to him. He didn't really have time for girls, but he was a teenage boy and he wasn't immune to womanly charms.

She put a hand on his shoulder, the left one, and smiled, "You're such a nice man, I almost regret…"

Harry's eyes widened in sudden pain, and then his reflexes took over. He swiftly shoved her off, before she could do anything more, but the damage was already done. She went flying at the force that he used, hitting the floor with a horrifying _thunk_. But Harry hardly noticed, through the pain.

He wanted to scream, but he held that back. Just as he held back the numerous screams that built up in his throat during Dudley's 'Harry-hunts' or Stonewall's weekly fights. To scream was to show weakness. But… but Harry really didn't care about showing weakness just about now.

The dagger which had been used to threaten the girl, the dagger which she had used to cut her ropes, was now imbedded deeply within Harry's left leg, with only the hilt visible. Blood was oozing from the wound, bubbling past the blade. She had somehow even gotten through muscle. She was no innocent bystander; she had strength and she knew how to cut. She was…

Laughing, the girl stood up, not seeming fazed by Harry's push. Slowly, she stalked towards the green eyed boy, peering down at him almost pityingly, "Oh you poor boy, that hurts doesn't it? Don't worry, greater men have been fooled by me. It's my looks; absolutely Lolita isn't it? You know, I was planning on bargaining for you since you were so nice and all, but then you had to go and push me. That's not what a nice boy would do, is it? Messing with us also isn't something nice boys should do… AKIRA!"

There was the sound of thudding feet, reminding Harry's weary mind oddly of the elephants he sometimes had to take care of. He gritted his teeth; reinforcements. Forcing himself to focus though the pain, Harry took out his chain again, ready to attack if anyone came close to him. He shifted to the wall, so at least he'd have that close to him if it came down to a fight. He was breathing heavily.

In seemingly an instant, Harry was surrounded. There were about fifteen men in dark clothing, all forming a semi-circle around the green eyed boy.

"Aniki!" Kijima complained loudly as he pointed a finger towards Harry, getting to a sitting position. Harry noticed then that Kijima wasn't unconscious; probably never had been. He'd been faking, it seemed. "He's the one! He's the one who made the Night Shades look bad!"

A tall, burly man stepped forward, snarling… at Kijima? "It is your fault for losing so badly, Two-Face!"

Kijima cowered, "Ye-yes Aniki. So-so-so-sorry!"

"However," the burly man turned back to Harry, "He is still Family, and you shall pay for making the Night Shades look bad! Night Shades, make him regret ever messing with us!"

"HAH!" Everyone shouted as one, and advanced towards Harry.

The dark haired boy readied his chain, fighting off his wavering vision. The chances were stacked against him. If he hadn't been injured, he might have been able to beat them. As it was however… well, he sure as hell wasn't going down without a fight.

And then, the roof caved in.

His mouth forming an 'O' of surprise, Harry looked up, just as the rest of the Night Shades did. No, the roof had not caved in; it was just one section of the roof which broke. Or more accurately, was broken.

Scattered pieces of debris rained down from the new hole in the roof of Warehouse 88, striking the floor with resounding clacks and heaving up dust in the air. When the dust cleared, standing in front of Harry was… Sawada?

Sawada, with only his boxers on.

"What the…?"

"REBORN!" Sawada bellowed out, actually looking quite scary in the moment. "SAVE POTTER-SAN WITH A DYING WILL!"

Kijima seemed to be the first one to find his voice. He sneered, though it came out a little weakly, "Your friend, Potter? Well no matter, he'll just get the same treatment as you."

Harry's heart skipped a beat. He turned desperate eyes on the nearly naked boy, "Sawada, please leave. You don't need to get involved."

"Oh yes he does." A new voice joined their midst, and from the rooftops another figure jumped down. It was a baby in a black suit and costly fedora; Reborn. The midget landed next to Harry, looking at the Night Shades with impassive eyes, "Oi, Tsuna, these are the ones who want to hurt Potter-san. If you defeat them, it should be fine."

Sawada raised his face to the heavens, and bellowed. And then, he jumped into the fray.

"Sawada, stop!" Harry yelled, then frantically turned to the baby beside him when he got no response, "Tell him to stop!"

Reborn just shrugged, his eyes still on the scene, "I can't. I'm not the one out there… that's Tsuna."

"Then… why is he doing this?" Harry whispered, not understanding. Tears prickled at the corner of his eyes, frustrated at his own uselessness. "I'm- I said-"

Reborn glanced at him, seeming to understand his inability to speak. The baby looked away, his voice almost reproachful, "Because… you're his Family."

Harry felt his heart skip a beat, but he didn't allow himself to get carried away with the notion. He had given up on the concept of family a long time ago. It didn't exist. Not for him, anyway. He turned his head away and gave a bitter laugh, "Don't be ridiculous. I refused him."

"Tsuna doesn't see it that way," Reborn disagreed, "Even if you hate us, that's okay. We won't abandon you."

Wouldn't… abandon?

Harry felt tears in his eyes, his voice strangely rough, "You—"

And then suddenly, Sawada was in front of him. Somehow, Sawada had already finished his fight with the Night Shades. Harry hadn't even noticed it. Belatedly, Harry realized that he must have been more out of it then he had imagined.

"Are you alright, Potter-san?" Sawada asked worriedly, bending over Harry worriedly.

Honed instinct causes Harry to react automatically. He pushed back before he registered it, though thankfully it was a weak push done with one hand. But, Sawada got the message; he backed off.

"Ah! Potter-san, I'm so sorry!" Sawada said hurriedly, bowing repeatedly and not once raising his head, "I know that you probably didn't want to be saved by someone like me and that I have no right to ask you if you're alright. You probably didn't want to be associated with us weirdos but I promise I won't tell anyone! Can you please forgive me for impeding—"

"Sto-stop," Harry choked out, putting a hand to stop Sawada's rampage.

Sawada froze, and slowly looked up, a look of utter dismay on his face, "Potter-san…"

"Why are you apologizing?" Harry muttered with a shake of his head, then stilled and looked at the younger kid seriously. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you, I just… anyway, I'm fine."

"Are… are you sure?" Sawada said, glancing worriedly at Harry's leg, before realizing whom he was talking to. "I mean, if Potter-san's sure then—!"

"I don't think he's sure," Reborn hummed, peering closely at Harry, "But he probably can't afford the hospital fees, right?"

Harry tensed.

Sawada's eyes widened, his head shooting up so that brown eyes met green ones, "Is that true, Potter-san?"

Harry felt his chest clench. He hadn't wanted anyone to know about his financial situation. Of course, it was pretty obvious to anyone who looked, but they'd just think his family was poor, not… not the reality of the situation. If he couldn't afford to go to the hospital however…

"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine."

Harry blinked, and blinked again. That was Sawada.

"It's fine," Sawada repeated, "But Potter-san, you really need to go to the hospital. I know someone who can talk to the head of the hospital for you. You won't have to pay."

Harry's mind blanked, "Why? Why are you willing to do this?"

Sawada blushed, "Because… because you've helped us before, right? At the zoo, with the Sakura trees. I understand if you didn't really want to do it, because we're a bunch of weirdos and—"

"I don't think you're weirdos," Harry sighed.

"Eh?"

"I don't mind your reputations, and I don't think you guys are weirdos. You guys are fun and warm, loyal and kind. I haven't seen a better group of friends, even in England. You guys… are nothing to be ashamed of."

There was a moment's of silence. Then— "But… but if you think that, why did you want to stop seeing us, Potter-san?"

Harry hesitated, "I— I don't deserve it."

Sawada looked shocked, "What?"

"I don't deserve to have friends like yours," Harry said quietly, looking down. "I know you think of me as your senior and that's why you're respectful to me, but I'm really no good. Friends… I'm afraid I'm not good enough to keep them."

Sawada took a step back, "Potter-san, you…"

Harry ducked his head. He knew it. Now that Sawada had seen what he was really like, why would he spend any effort on Harry?

"How could you say that?"

Huh?

"How could you say that you don't deserve to have friends? You're kind, smart, and tough, unlike me! Me, who's never put any effort into anything, who has all these silly regrets while dying. I'm really 'No-Good' Tsuna. If it weren't for Reborn, Gokudera, Yamamoto and everyone, I'd still be… I'd still be…! So how can you say you don't deserve friends, when even someone like me has them?"

"Ts-Tsuna…" Harry felt his throat dry, his mind blank. Just… just what was Sawada saying?

At Harry's words, Sawada seemed to calm. The brown haired boy sat down, slumping as if the energy had been drained out of him. He looked at Harry wearily, "The day you left us after Hanami, everyone wondered where you had gone. To be honest, everyone… everyone already considers you a friend, so please don't say that you're incapable of making them."

Everyone… already did?

Harry leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. He couldn't believe it… he couldn't believe it… Did he really have it… friends? No, it was more than that, from what Reborn had told him. It was—

"So Potter-san, please don't— Potter-san? Potter-san?"

* * *

"Eeeeekkkkk! It smells! Me no like hospitals. It stinky!"

"Octopus head, give that back! Give that BACK!"

"So Kyoko, what are you doing this weekend?"

"Hey stop that you stupid cow-print, this is mine in the first place so—"

"Oh I dunno Haru, do you want to go somewhere?"

"EXTREME! Woooah, that move was absolutely Extreme!"

"Potter-san… are you sure you're alright?"

He remembered going to the infirmary and seeing parents there, gushing over the injuries that their kids had gotten. He'd been insanely jealous, then. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had never taken him to the hospital, and in cases where it was unavoidable, they had left as soon as it was possible to do so.

Harry felt tears in his eyes. He swallowed, several times.

Unwillingly, Harry's mind flashed back to the little boy with sad green eyes, peeking out from a secluded corner at the lovely family scene in front of him. To the cupboard, where he could hear the sounds of Christmas and Christmas games but could not see them. To the children he heard at school talking about their mummys and daddys, glowingly, and not wanting to trade them for anything in the world.

To the six year old, who had yearned love. To the eight year old, who had changed his objectives to acceptance. To the ten year old, who had realized that his family would never acknowledge him. To the thirteen year old, who had finally abandoned the idea of family.

To the fifteen year old, who had retaken it.

As he stared at them, he realized he had gotten it. Gotten his greatest desire, most fanciful dream. Gotten something the Dursleys said he would never have and Harry himself had started to believe was impossible. He looked to the bright faces of Yamamoto and Sasagawa, the sympathetic smiles of Kyoko and Haru, the childish concern of Ipin and Lambo, the caring eyes of Gokudera and Reborn, and most of all, the worried expression of Sawada Tsunayoshi. They had all come to visit him. _Him_.

Somehow, somehow, fate had granted him his greatest desire, and it all of the sudden didn't matter that he had no parents, that he had lived a life most would commit suicide over, or that his current living situation wasn't the greatest.

Was he alright? Slowly, Harry nodded, the tears finally falling from his eyes. For the first time in a long time, Harry was letting himself cy, but he wasn't sad. Yes, Harry was fine, no, better than fine. The best he had ever been, in fact. Because— because—

Harry Potter now had a Family.

* * *

A/n: Love? Hate? The ending was kind of meh, but I needed to _end_ it. 'Cause this is an oneshot, and will remain so, however it might very well become a series of one-shots (with Mukuro, Voldemort, and all that fun stuff). So put it on your alerts list if you're hoping for a Kokuya Land, but don't wait around for it. It's Complete, after all. I hoped you liked it, because Katekyou Hitman Reborn fanfic is something really rare, so I wanted to write one.


	2. II Kokuyo Land pt 1

**Summary**: In a world where magic doesn't exist, a normal Harry Potter goes to Namimori in able to escape from his relatives. But then he meets the crazy baby Reborn and Sawada Tsunayoshi…

**Disclaimer**: This is not meant to be an amazing piece of work, but simply out there for those who are looking for a short reprieve from their KHR/HP addiction. You've been warned.

* * *

Act II. Kokuyo Land

Part 1

* * *

"And then ka-pow! Tsuna punched open the ground and the geyser erupted. It put out the whole forest fire."

Harry stifled a laugh. It sounded unbelievable, but with the things he had seen Tsuna do, he supposed it couldn't be _that_ far of an exaggeration. He leaned closer, his green eyes glittering with amusement, "No kidding?"

They were all sitting in a nice little outdoors patio: Harry, Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Gokudera. The four of them were seated on small round chairs, a table umbrella protecting them from the sun. They had ordered ice cream just hours before, but that was eaten and already forgotten in light of Yamamoto's tales. Or rather, 'recounts' of the adventures that had already befallen the 'Vongola'.

"Of course not!" Gokudera huffed, crossing his arms and shooting a glare at Yamamoto. "The Tenth is amazing!"

Tsuna blushed, sinking a little lower into his seat.

Yamamoto put up his hands in surrender, "I never said that Tsuna wasn't amazing. Anyways Potter-san, get what happened next. So you remember the turtle I was telling you about earlier? Well it got so soaked up in water that…"

Harry listened attentively, held in rapture by the tale. Yamamoto told the story perfectly, even if it was just a story. The second year knew exactly when to pause and when to put on emphasis. Who said that Yamamoto should be a baseball player? He should be a storyteller for sure!

Harry listened to Yamamoto's tales, enraptured, but eventually, his mind couldn't help but wander. It had nothing to do with how well or awful Yamamoto told his stories. In fact, even if somebody was giving a lecture on how to stop the end of the world from occurring, Harry didn't think he would have listened.

There was so much that had happened in the past weeks, and Harry still could only look upon the events with amazement.

It had only been three weeks since he accepted Tsuna's 'Family', but it had felt like forever. Already he could hardly remember a time in Namimori that he hadn't had friends like this.

His life before that still haunted him, but those thoughts only crept into his consciousness at night, and had no place in the light of day.

Tsuna, Yamamoto, Gokudera, Sasagawa and the rest had been most obliging. They seemed to have endless patience and tolerance. They asked no uncomfortable questions and were always quick to change the subject if tension ever came up. Yet, they gave off the impression of genuinely caring.

He didn't have that much time to see them, what with his schoolwork, his job, and his living situation in general. Still, when he was with them he never felt excluded, even though he felt like there _should_ have been a barrier between him, an outsider, and them.

Tsuna's friends were something else.

Yes, they had their weird little games about the mafia, and sometimes Harry wondered if it was all a game like Yamamoto seemed to think. There was something odd about Reborn, and Tsuna when the correct situation arose.

Still, Harry thought it best not to pry into things that weren't his affair. If… if his new found friends were involved in something fishy, then they would tell him when the time came. And he would give his life to help them out of it.

His friends… now that was a thought.

A few weeks ago Harry would have laughed at the idea of him having friends, or even possibly have cried at the impossibility of it. He would have thought it absurd that anyone would become friends with _him_.

He wasn't sure why that was, exactly. He thought maybe it had to do with the fact that he had become so used to being betrayed that the thought of genuine friendship never crossed his mind anymore.

In elementary school it had been Dudley scaring away all potential companions. In Stonewall, it had been even worse. Stonewall had been an everyone for himself type of place, and the only reason Harry had survived there was because of Maine.

Harry shook his head; he didn't want to think about the man who had taught him everything, whom he had started to think of as a father, only to find out—

"Potter-san?" Tsuna's concerned voice brought him out of his thoughts, "Are you alright?"

"Maybe my story telling skills are so good that they've put him to sleep," Yamamoto joked. "Right, Potter-san?"

Gokudera snorted, "Yeah, right."

Yamamoto frowned teasingly at the half-foreigner, "You got a problem with my way of telling stories?"

"You're damn right I do. The Tenth would never…!"

And, just like many, many times before, Yamamoto and Gokudera went off into an argument that made absolutely no sense to the bystanders.

Harry was still amazed that the two second years could seemingly get into an argument about anything. And yes, it was anything. Once as he passed by, he thought he heard a dispute about whether a particular rock was rose or magenta. He hadn't even known there was a difference between those colours.

The only one who could keep up with them was Tusna, but Tsuna wasn't looking at them right now; he was looking at Harry.

Harry smiled weakly, realizing that the brown haired boy was waiting for a reply. "Sorry, I was just—uh—"

He wasn't actually sure what to say. He didn't have an excuse on why he had blanked out during Yamamoto's latest story. It was rude, and it had been bad form of him to let the people in question notice.

Thankfully, his body saved his mind, because just then, his stomach let out a low growl.

"Oh!" Tsuna exclaimed, glancing at his watch, "it's that time already? Oh dear, no wonder you weren't paying attention Harry-san. You probably have dinner at this time, right?"

Harry blinked, and then nodded encouragingly, "Right."

He felt a little guilty about lying, but it wasn't as if what Tsuna said wasn't true. He usually _did_ have dinner at this time. It was just… he hadn't been thinking about that.

Still, Stonewall wasn't something Harry wanted to share at this moment. Heck, he would never share it if he could. He didn't want Tsuna and the others to be dragged into that cold world.

Tsuna tugged at his hair, looking thoroughly distressed, "Oh man, I'm so sorry Potter-san! You parents must be so worried about you!"

Harry tensed, and then forced himself to relax. "It's okay Sawada-kun, my parents aren't home tonight."

And they never would be, but Tsuna didn't need to know that.

Tsuna frowned, his eyebrows making a slight V shape along his forehead, "So… Potter-san, you'll be all alone tonight?"

"It's happened more than once," Harry said lightly, not wanting Tsuna to get worked up over it. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself."

Tsuna opened his mouth, then closed it. Then, he shook his head. "Th-that's not what I meant, Potter-san. Of course you can take care of yourself. But… but if you're going to be all alone tonight… wouldn't you rather eat with us?"

Eh?

"I—I mean," Tsuna continued, blundering slightly but forging ahead nonetheless, "My mom's a great cook and she'd love to have an extra guest. Besides, it's kinda become custom for everyone to eat over at our house sometime down the line."

Harry hesitated. That did sound nice but— "I… I wouldn't want to impose."

Tsuna shook his head furiously, "You wouldn't be imposing. Mom loves to cook, and everyone already eats at my house anyway. It's gotten really rowdy, and there's not a moment of quiet. Oh, well, I guess if you don't like that, then you shouldn't feel forced to come. I know I'm not the person most people would want to hang out with but-"

"I'm come," Harry interjected, before Tsuna could put himself into more of a slump. Tsuna stopped mid-rant, looking at the black haired boy with wide eyes. Harry smiled weakly at the brown haired boy, "I'll come."

Tsuna beamed, shifting his body to stand half-way up, "Great! Let's go!"

Harry blinked, "Go where?"

"To my house."

"Now?"

"Um..." Tsuna bit his lip, casting a hesitant glance to the green haired boy, "weren't you hungry?"

"Oh, right, sure," Harry said dazedly, and also stood up.

It was then that Gokudera and Yamamoto seemed to notice what was going on, and their argument abruptly came to a halt, their attitudes changing so quickly it was almost frightening.

Tsuna quickly explained that they were going to leave for dinner, and Yamamoto cheerily agreed. Gokudera wanted to walk 'the Tenth' home, but Yamamoto was having none of that.

"We live in the same direction Hayato-kun~!" Yamamoto said teasingly as he grabbed hold of one of Gokudera's arms, "you can't leave me to walk home all by myself."

Gokudera's face went purple. His voice came out in a low growl. "Don't call me like that. It's damn creepy."

"It's alright Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said earnestly, "Potter-san will be with me after all."

Gokudera threw a suspicious glance at Harry, the aura of which made Harry shift to a more posed position automatically. Finally, Gokudera gave a nod, his voice coming out a little sad. "Alright, if that's what the Tenth wants…"

Tsuna hesitated, no doubt feeling guilty now, but Yamamoto interrupted before the brown haired boy could change his mind. With a cheery wave goodbye, Yamamoto laughingly dragged Gokudera off, saying that he'd take the silver haired boy home.

"Um…" Tsuna said, frowning after the duo.

"I'm sorry if I was the cause of tension there," Harry said, feeling bad about this already.

Tsuna's eyes widened, and he whirled on Harry, shaking his head adamantly, "No, no! Of course not, Potter-san! That was just… well, let's get going, shall we?"

At the very least, Harry's words had seemed to snap Tsuna out of his self-blame game. They conversed easily as they walked to Tsuna's house, laughing about the insane actions of the others of Tsuna's group.

When they got to Tsuna's house, Harry spotted Reborn, Ipin, Lambo, Fuuta, and Bianchi all playing in the yard. Harry waited for them to all leave, but when they got to Tsuna's doorstep and they still hadn't left, Harry realized something was amiss about his first impressions.

"Is your house a daycare?" Harry asked in surprise, when the four kids piled into the house, followed by the Italian woman.

Tsuna blushed, "Uh, no. They're just all staying with me. Mom likes to pick up strays."

Harry smiled softly, "That's nice of your mom. You're lucky to have her."

"How about your mom?" Tsuna asked curiously.

Just then, Tsuna's mom turned the corner. She stopped, seeing the flurry of children, then smiled, "Tsuna! You're back! Oh, and who's your new friend?"

She looked kind. Harry took a deep breath, and bowed deeply, "Sawada-san. I am Potter Harry."

"Oh!" Mrs. Sawada said in delight, throwing a beam in Sawada's direction, "Such a polite friend you have here, Tsuna. If only you could be so well mannered."

Harry felt a shock race down his spine, and his head snapped up of its own accord. He thought Tsuna was _plenty_ well mannered. There was a retort at the edge of his tongue, but as soon as he saw Mrs. Sawada's teasing expression, the retort vanished.

He felt his gut clench. No, Mrs. Sawada was not insulting her son; this wasn't like the Dursleys. This was probably one of those mother-son moments, where the mother only wanted the best for the child. Harry couldn't spoil Tsuna's moment just because he was feeling defensive.

Tsuna laughed, rubbing his head with one hand, "Well. So anyway, can Potter-san stay for dinner today?"

"Of course!" Mrs. Sawada said brightly.

Just then, Reborn entered the room with a flying kick at Tsuna. Tsuna squealed, and just barely managed to dodge. Reborn landed neatly on the table, and started interrogating the second year, to which Tsuna could only reply with wide-eyed nods.

Harry didn't even try to keep up with the baby's actions any longer. They were just too confusing.

Mrs. Sawada had back towards the direction of where Harry could only assume to be the kitchen, "I'll get right on cooking then!"

She took a step forward.

"Wa-wait!"

She paused. She looked back, curious at who had asked her to stop.

Harry blushed. It was him. Reborn and Tsuna looked like they were having a moment, and he knew better than to try and rescue the brown haired boy from his supposed tutor. Harry swallowed, several times, then- "Do you… want any help?"

Mrs. Sawada blinked, numerous times, and then she laughed. "Oh goodness, you really _are_ polite, Harry-kun. Thank you for the offer, but you don't have to worry about dinner. You can just play with my Tsuna until it's ready. Oh, I'm so happy. Tsuna's been getting such dependable friends lately."

Harry flushed, not used to such compliments.

"Sti-still," Harry stammered, "I'd like to- I mean, could I please…?"

He had accepted Tsuna's invitation as an act of desperation, not wanting Tsuna to think that Harry wouldn't go to his house because he didn't like Tsuna. Still, he felt bad about imposing.

Mrs. Sawada giggled, "If you really want to, Harry-kun."

Nearly sighing in relief, Harry walked with her to the kitchen. Mrs. Sawada hesitated for a moment at the doorway, and Harry instantly knew what was wrong. She probably didn't know what task to set him; seeing as he didn't know the layout of this house, thus he couldn't get her the necessary ingredients, and she didn't know his cooking level. Well, he'd try to make this easier for her then.

"I do the cooking at home," Harry said, softly.

Mrs. Sawada turned to him, blinking in surprise, before a beautiful smile spread across her face, "Oh do you? My, aren't you such a responsible young man? If only my Tsuna were like you. Well then, I'll have to ask help for this meal then."

There were no more complications after that. Well, except for the one moment where Mrs. Sawada started chattering about how proud Harry's mother must be of him, which made Harry feel rather uncomfortable.

Still, he decided to go with the flow of it; he did not want Mrs. Tsuna's pity, so Harry remained silent throughout that discussion.

They cooked together, both chattering easily to each other about the going-ons of school and spring break. Before they knew it, they were done.

Mrs. Sawada giggled, placing the last dish of steaming hot food on the dinner table, "Oh, time does seem to pass as you're having fun. Thank you for that, Harry-kun. Now… TSUNA! REBORN! LAMBO! I-PIN! FUUTA! BIANCHI! TIME FOR DINNER!"

Harry startled a little at her yells, earning an apologetic smile from Mrs. Sawada. Harry smiled back. A few moments later, the sound of thudding feet and teasing laughter filled the kitchen as the residents of the Tsuna house made their way downstairs. Within a few minutes they were all fitted into their seats, and with a loud 'Itadakimasu!' they began eating.

Tsuna took one bite of a dish and his eyes widened, "Wow, mom, this is really good. Really different from your usual style."

"That's because I didn't make it," Mrs. Sawarda said with a smile. Harry blushed and ducked his head, hoping that nobody saw it. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw the Reborn glance at him. Mrs. Sawada gestured towards Harry, "Your friend here cooked that particular dish."

"Wow," Tsuna sounded impressed, "Really Potter-san? You're a great cook!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Lambo, a baby with cow print pajamas exclaimed, "This is gooooood! Make me more! Make me more!"

"Now, now, Lambo," Mrs. Sawada chided, "It's not Harry-kun's job to make you food."

"But it is very good," Futa, the boy with green hair said, his eyes half closing as he looked to the ceiling. For a moment, Harry thought he saw the food around said boy float, but he blinked and everything was back to normal again. "Potter-san is… 657 ranked in his kitchen skills."

The only other woman of their group, Bianchi, whistled, "That's pretty impressive, considering he's not a professional chief. I've definitely tasted worse food than this."

"Indeed," Reborn murmured, his cute babyish voice sounding contemplative, "This is good food. Where did you learn to cook like this?"

Harry blushed, looking back up. Everyone looked curious. He took a deep breath, "I learned to cook from my aunt Petunia."

From his aunt, who only taught him so she wouldn't have to do it herself anymore. From his aunt, who hated him with all her being. From his aunt, who had taken all the enjoyment of eating out of him and replaced it with anxiety.

"Oh?" Mrs. Sawada looked surprised, "Not from your mother?"

Harry looked down, his voice soft, "No… not from her."

"Oh…" Mrs. Sawada didn't seem to know quite what to say.

There was a bit of an awkward silence.

Harry clenched his fists, hating himself for breaking the mood. He wished he didn't have to be so sensitive; in fact, such information should have long stopped affecting him. But… but being here with Mrs. Sawada, this family setting… it was all too much for him. He opened his mouth to apologize, but then—

"Ack!" Tsuna yelled, landing on the floor with a spectacular crash.

Everyone's heads turned as one towards him. Somehow, Tsuna had managed to stab himself with a chopstick, and being in extreme pain, had launched himself backwards. Unfortunately, he hadn't realized that he was sitting in a chair, which caused him to topple to the floor, chair and all…

"Bwahahaha!" The baby in the cow print cooed, "Stupid Tsuna!"

"Tsuna," Mrs. Sawada said worriedly, leaning forward to get a better look at her son, "Are you alright?"

"Tsuna!" The Chinese baby said cutely, peering at the brown haired boy in concern, "Okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Tsuna said with a sheepish grin, picking himself off the floor, and settling back to his seat. Everyone gave him small chastisements, before they all got back to their meal. Harry saw Tsuna smile weakly at him, and his eyes widened in realization. No way… Tsuna couldn't have—

"This is the first time I've seen you mess up at the dinner table," Reborn muttered, confirming Harry's suspicions. Tsuna had done that just to take the attention off Harry, because he saw that Harry was uncomfortable— no one had ever done anything like that for Harry before… or at least, not without a price. But Tsuna didn't seem to be the type to take advantage like that…

Harry spent the rest of the meal in relative silence, trying to figure out his thoughts. Surprisingly, it seemed like his presence was not noticed at all. No, 'noticed' wasn't the right word, it was more like… his presence was accepted.

Everyone seemed to be engaged in normal conversation even though there was someone who was more or less a stranger in their midst (though when the babies started getting into fights, Harry nearly had a heart attack. It was only a quick glance at Mrs. Sawada's serene expression that he deduced that this was in fact, a normal occurrence) but they weren't ignoring him completely.

More than once had Tsuna looked to him for guidance, more than once had I-pin tried to engage him. More than once had Bianchi mentioned how adorable he was, and more than once had Fuuta softly asked for _his_ opinion.

All in all, it was a bewildering dinner.

Harry was almost sad when it was time to go.

"Oh," Mrs. Sawada said with a glance to the clock when clean up was finally finished, "It's rather late. Harry-kun, where do you live?"

"Uh… around," Harry said vaguely. Seeing Mrs. Sawada's frown, he quickly added, "Around Kokuyo land."

"Oh…" Mrs. Sawada's eyebrows furrowed, "The old abandoned amusement park? Oh but Harry, that's so far away! Here, how about this, you stay for the night!"

"Um— um— I—" This… this was too much, why was she offering him this?

"I'm sure your parents won't mind," Mrs. Sawada continued cheerily, clapping her hands at her brilliant idea, "I'll even talk to them about it if you think they'll disagree. Tsuna will love to have you sleep over I'm sure. Reborn-kun, Lambo-chan, I-pin-chan, Fuuta and Bianchi are all great, but they're hardly his age. Besides… you're such a polite young man. Won't you stay, Harry-kun?"

Not for the first time that night, Harry flushed. He seemed to be doing that a lot around Mrs. Tsuna. "Um— I— I—"

A part of him wanted to say yes, to give in to the comfort and silliness that was sure to be offered at the Tsuna house. To the warm bed and good food, to the nice company and friendly faces. The other part…

Harry bowed, deeply, "I'm sorry Sawada-san, I'm afraid that won't be possible."

"Oh," Mrs. Sawada said, sounding disappointed. And then, her voice picked up again in innocent cheer, "Well alright then, would you like Tsuna to accompany you home? You do live such a distance…"

"That is fine as well Sawada-san," Harry said with a shake of his head, "I've had to walk home from the zoo before much later than this."

"Well, well if you're sure…"

"I'm sure," Harry said firmly, bowing again, "Thank you for the food, Sawada-san."

"It's I who should be thanking you," Mrs. Sawada sighed, "Do drop by again, Harry-kun."

Harry nodded mutely, and headed for the door. Everyone said their goodbyes to him in the living room, but at the same time they weren't really saying their goodbyes. Almost as if… they were expecting him to come back again, very soon. Harry was a bit unsettled at that.

With a shake of his head, Harry put on his shoes and took a step outside the door, slightly surprised that it was still bright out. Then again, it was nearing summer, and the days were getting longer.

With one last wave goodbye, Harry Potter left the warmth of the Sawada household and into the lonely evening.

He walked for quite a long distance. Sawada's house wasn't terribly far from where he lived, but it was far enough. Particularly on a night like this, where he had just experienced such company, the forty minute walk to his place seemed especially lonely.

He made sure to stop at the nearby grocer's on his way back, recognizing that he most likely would have to spend Sunday cleaning, and thus, wouldn't be able to go back out again.

Despite the fact that he had a very filling dinner and didn't feel like looking at food again, his common sense won out and Harry bought the foodstuffs he would need for the next week.

Normally he would have taken a few shortcuts back to his home, but with the grocery bags in place he decided that such a task would be too difficult. Instead, Harry treaded the familiar abandoned highway that led to his abode.

The path was something he had been creeped out by when he had first found this home, but now he had long since gotten used to it. He'd never been one who feared the unknown after all.

It helped, he supposed, that he had found out that humans could be much more terrifying than anything supernatural.

He stopped at the end of the highway, right in front of the clearing which showed a mass of trees and an equal amount of run down buildings.

He'd heard some townspeople talk about it like it was the most chilling place in the world, and in a way he could see why they would see it like that. Abandoned and placed in the middle of nowhere. Huge and hallow. Broken toys everywhere and an immense fence surrounding the place.

To him though, it was more than that. He could see the comfort and closeness that it offered. The privacy and opening to escape if it ever came to that.

It was a place of his own, away from his relatives and away from his teacher.

Harry took a breath, and walked boldly up to the entrance of Kokuyo land, the place that he had lived ever since he arrived in Japan.

The green eyed boy hopped the fence easily, shifting all his bags to one hand so that he could use his other hand to hoist himself. He walked past the broken rides and shut-down funhouses, until he finally got to the nearly torn down haunted house that had become his sleeping quarters.

He was still a little desolate from leaving the Sawada house, but coming back to Kokuyo land had reminded him that he too, had a home.

No, it was not as warm as the house that held Tsunayoshi and his companions. It did not hold the joy of laughter and the shrieks of banter. It did not overflow with happiness and livelihood, but it was something else altogether.

It was his home.

The problem was, someone was already there.

Harry tensed as he entered the main house, noticing right away that there were lights on that he was sure he had left off. Granted, he could have simply forgotten, but one could never be too careful. Maine had taught him that all too well.

Surreptitiously, he put down his grocery bags, leaning them against the wall so that they wouldn't suddenly crash and alert the interlopers that he was here.

Then, walking as quietly as possible, Harry made his way towards 'his room'.

With money earned from his zoo keeping job, he'd managed to get a few sofas at some yard sale and a used stove and fridge. It had become his kitchen and living room all in one, and the only reason he didn't sleep there was because he didn't want to doze off to the smell of food.

It made him feel hungrier than usual on the nights he didn't have time to make dinner.

He was sure that if any trespasser had been in Kokuya land for any length of time, they would have discovered his secret room and took residence there. It wasn't as if Kokuya land had anything else to offer in terms of comfort.

It was as he thought.

As he neared his room, he could hear faint mutterings. Whoever it was that trespassed, it was more than one, and they were discussing something.

Harry placed a hand underneath his shirt, ready to rip out his chain at any moment. He put his back to the wall and inched forward, so that nobody could accidently see him.

The voices were getting clearer.

"—should go from here," a man was saying, his voice low and cultured. "Even if we know he's here, we don't know who he _is_."

"I still say that we beat everyone up until we find him," a second voice grumbled. This one was rough and gravelly, distinctly giving Harry the impression of a cornered lion. "That way, we can't go wrong."

A third voice joined the conversation, and it was this voice that made Harry pause in his step.

"Now, now Ken, that isn't very nice. There will be… all those innocent people, hurt."

Despite the kind sounding words, Harry felt a chill run down his spine. He wasn't sure why, but something about that voice set him on edge. It was smooth and silky, like a panther watching its prey, or a serpent waiting to strike.

There was a snort from the rough sounding man. "Right, of course."

"Well, there are less tedious ways of doing it I'm sure. For example we could—" Suddenly, the man with the smooth voice paused. And then— "Kufufu, it's rude to eavesdrop you know."

Harry felt ice drench his back, and he knew right then that he had been discovered. There was no use in hiding, now.

He stepped out from around the doorway, into full view from his room. Into full view _of_ his room.

Harry gasped.

There in his room weren't three menacing men, like he had previously imagined. No, it was instead three boys, with worn and torn clothing and tired looks on their faces.

There was a blond haired boy with a rough cast to his face sprawled across the couch, his arm dangling off the backend. His one eye was swollen shut, and his clothes were cut to shreds.

A second boy, with long black hair and a white beanie on his head stood leaning against the fridge, and although Harry could see no visible wounds, he could see that the teen was favouring his right leg over his left.

Finally, sitting with his legs crossed and a completely relaxed expression on his face was a blue haired boy in a leopard coloured shirt. And mismatched eyes. One red, like blood, and the other as blue as the unfathomable sea. Unlike the other two he had no visible wounds, but there was something in those eyes that spoke volumes.

Harry's hand dropped from his shirt. No, he couldn't fight these people.

"Well?" The blond haired boy demanded, his rough voice identifying him as 'Ken'. "The Boss asked you a—"

"Ken," the one with the leopard patterned shirt interrupted, his tone mild and his expression even milder. It was the one who sounded like a serpent, of course, except now that Harry knew he was just a teenager, such a reference seemed silly. It all looked different when Harry realized it was just three beat up boys instead of something more sinister.

The one dubbed Ken instantly shut up, becoming as silent as a ghost.

The blue haired boy tsked and turned to Harry, a wide smile already on his features. Still, there was something strange about that smile. "Ken really, is that the way to treat our honourable host? These are all your things, aren't they?"

The last bit was addressed to Harry.

Wordlessly, Harry nodded.

"But you're welcome to use it," the green eyed boy added, "if you're looking for a place to stay, that is. I don't mind."

"Oh?" The one with the mismatched eyes seemed surprised. He sat up a little bit straighter, leaning forward slightly, "That's generous."

There was a trace of amusement in his eyes that Harry wasn't sure he liked, but he continued his statement stoutly. "I don't know if you guys are in a gang or something, and if so, I can't say I really want to get involved. But, Kokuyo land is a big place, and it'd be rude of me not to share with my neighbours, right?"

The blond one snorted, "Rude my a—"

"Ken, let's not be rude," the blue haired teen cut in again, giving the blond boy a big smile. Ken made a disgruntled noise, and looked away. The boy on the chair turned back to Harry, his smile turning into an amused one. "I am sorry for my companion. Now, what makes you think that if ah… 'the gang' finds us here, they won't automatically assume that you're with us?"

Harry hesitated.

He wondered what he should say. The truth of what he thought? That might offend the trio. Still, he didn't want to lie about something like this.

Harry sighed, wondering if this was all more trouble than it was worth.

"I…" he started, then looked away, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I don't actually think you three are from a gang. Or if you are, there's something more to it…" the green eyed boy shook his head, then turned back to them with a slight smile on his face, "But you're unlikely to tell me the real reason you're here, right?"

Yes, that was right. That was the true reason he couldn't fight them and had even offered them a place to stay. They were like him, in their own way.

What he wouldn't have given if the first day he had come to Japan he had found somebody willing to help. Sure, he would have been as suspicious as hell, but it would have been nice. If he had found someone like Sawada Tsunayoshi…

Harry felt his smile turn wry. Three weeks ago perhaps, he wouldn't have offered his home to the trio of strangers, but something about Tsuna's undemanding hospitality had changed him. Tsuna seemed to have that effect on people.

Maine had taught Harry that it was every man for himself out there, but Tsuna had showed him that there was kindness in the world, too. And now, Harry wanted more than anything to show others that. He didn't want others to feel the way he had before he had met one Sawada Tsunayoshi.

He felt the wary glances more than he saw them, but he did his best to ignore it. Then, finally, the boy in the leopard print shirt broke the silence.

The boy with the mismatched eyes laughed, and laughed loud and long. He threw his head back and nearly tipped over the chair, so great was his merriment. Finally, he settled back down, wiping a tear from his eye.

He grinned at Harry, "Kufufu, you're interesting. What's your name?"

"Potter Harry," Harry answered promptly, not able to help the slight smile from spreading across his face. It seemed as if his words were heard, at least.

Something about those eyes sharpened. "Potter, did you say?"

Harry felt the smile slip off his face. It was another person interested in his name. Was it possible… that what the trio were involved in somehow involved him and Maine too? "Yes…"

The blue haired boy smiled, "That is not a Japanese name, is it?"

Harry relaxed. So the other boy wasn't interested in his name because of some… unknown connection. He smiled back, "Yeah, I think I'm mostly English, just one-quarter Japanese. Mom loved Japan though, so I moved here."

"Oh, is that so? Well, I'm Rokudo Mukuro," the blue haired boy said in reply. His mismatched eyes flickered to his two companions, who didn't seem eager to answer, and an amused smile spread across his face. "Those two are Chikusa and Ken."

Harry hesitated, and nodded towards the two. Ken simply scowled and looked away, but Chikusa did nod back.

"I'm afraid that we will have to impede on your hospitality for a bit," Mukuro continued, "and if something ah… unfortunate happens, you can't blame us."

"I have no intention of doing so," Harry said with a shake of his head, and then looked over his shoulder to the door, "Um… I have groceries out in the back, and I'm afraid that they'll get bad if I leave them there. So, please excuse me?"

"So polite!" Mukuro said in delight, "And I've noticed the stove and the fridge too. Do you cook?"

Harry nodded, but he couldn't help but get slightly affronted at the tone. His reply was dry, "And I'm house trained, too. Amazing, isn't it?"

A low growl escaped from Ken's lips, and Harry noticed that even the stoic Chikusa, who had not moved a muscle other than the nod since Harry had arrived, looked displeased.

Harry however, wasn't just going to let this one slide. This was his home after all, and he was not going to stand for bullying of any sort. "I'm letting you stay. That doesn't mean I'll let you insult me."

Mukuro's eyes narrowed, but Harry didn't back down. They stared at each other for a long time, before Mukuro finally nodded.

"I apologize," he said, although Harry couldn't tell if it was sincere or not, "it's habit, you see."

Harry sighed; it wouldn't be fair for him to call someone else out on a fault of theirs. Especially since they were virtual strangers. And then, he grinned. "Well that's okay, but I hope you won't mind if I make a retort, then?"

Mukuro's eyes flashed, and then he too, smiled. "I see… not quite the perfect angel you gave yourself off as."

"Perfect angel?" Harry asked wryly, shaking his head. "Is that what you thought?"

He was far from perfect. And even further from being an angel.

Mukuro seemed to have heard the silent words, somehow. He blinked, looking once again, amused. "My apologies. It seems as if I were wrong again. How odd, I am wrong so many times today…"

Great. Now Harry felt bad.

"Um, that's not—I mean, you're not—er—" Harry started, and finally stopped. The more he tried the comfort thing, the more he failed. Where had the articulate top scorer of Namimori gone?

Mukuro seemed to understand what he was doing, or rather, trying to do, and let out another laugh. "Kufufu, don't you have groceries to get, Harry-kun?"

Green eyes widened. Groceries! He had completely forgotten!

"Che," Ken said, digging for something in his pocket and bringing out a snack bar. He took a bite, snapping the neck of the bar away from the rest of the body. "Who needs groceries? Fancy-pants."

Harry's mouth dropped open as he realized what Ken had to mean by that statement. Suddenly, Mukuro's question about his cooking skills took a new meaning. It wasn't meant as an insult.

"But that's horrible!" Harry said before he could stop himself.

Chikusa looked at him and cocked a brow, "What is?"

Harry flushed. It wasn't really his place to say, but still, it couldn't be good for them. He shifted on his feet, and looked down, his voice coming out in a mutter, "Your food. It's all junk food, isn't it? It's not healthy at all."

The three glanced at each other, and then Ken let out a low growl. "Bah! Healthy, unhealthy, who cares? You must be fuc—"

"You'll eat with me," Harry said determinedly, interrupting the blond because he really didn't want to hear what the coarse teen had to say. "I have breakfast at eight and dinner at six, so whatever you're doing in between, make sure that you're here for those times."

Mukuro murmured something too low to be heard, and let out another laugh. Chikusa simply looked as stoic as ever, but Harry thought he caught a glimpse of relief in his eyes.

"And if we're not here for those times?" Ken sneered, being as difficult as always. Despite having only known the teen for less than an hour, Harry knew he was going to have a tough time with the blond. "What are you going to do to us?"

Harry, for the first time in a long time, simply smiled mischievously. Honestly, he couldn't resist. Was it because he wanted to put the blond in his place, or was it something more?

"Then," he replied slowly, very slowly. "You'll just miss a great meal."

Without giving Ken time to think of a retort, Harry spun around and left the trio, intent on getting those groceries.

* * *

There was a moments of silence as Harry exited.

"Why'd you let him stay?" Ken demanded as soon as Harry was out of sight, his eyes shifting away from the curious boy to The Boss. They could have easily taken care of the unfortunate boy who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they all knew it.

Mukuro paused, then turned back to look at the blond haired teen with a look of pure amusement in his eyes, "Kufufu, why not let someone who is willing to cook for us stay? Besides, Potter-kun is… _interesting_."

Ken's face contorted.

"Why, are you questioning me?" Mukuro said in amusement, and shook his head. "Now, I'm going to help Harry-kun with the ingredients for dinner. Be tame you two."

And with that, Mukuro left them.

"I just don't get it," Ken complained when Mukuro left their vicinity, "I mean, I respect Boss and all but why let a little nobody—"

"Didn't you hear?" Chikusa said contemptuously, pushing up his glasses, "Potter can cook. More so than that though… I think it has something to do with the fact that he has our eyes."

"…what?" It took Ken a moment, and then what Chikusa was truly saying hit him. "Wait, _what_? We were experimented on Kakipi! No way is that Potter kid anything like us!"

"He has a scar on his forehead," Chikusa pointed out, "he hid it well but that one time when he raised his head to give a retort to Mukuro-sama, it was clearly visible. It looks old."

"Ah come on Kakipi, that could have happened because he fell on his head as a baby or something!"

"Nevertheless he understands," Chikusa said with a shake of his head, "Mukuro-sama must have seen that."

Ken still didn't agree, but he knew how Mukuro was. He turned his head away, "Tch, Mukuro-sama is sometimes too kind for his own good. He acts all cold and whatnot, but he's just…"

"I know," Chikusa smiled, "And that is why we follow him, correct?"

* * *

A/n: So I decided to (sorta) continue this after all. At least, to Kokuyo land. KHR had finally finished the Shimon Arc, so I felt like I had to write this to celebrate. (So… I'd been working on this for a while xD)

If you want some visuals on what anime Harry looks like, I've done a little doodle. Be warned, it's not good, but if you want to see my drawing skills (or lack thereof), the link is on the bottom of my profile.


	3. II Kokuyo Land pt 2

**Summary**: In a world where magic doesn't exist, a normal Harry Potter goes to Namimori in able to escape from his relatives. But then he meets the crazy baby Reborn and Sawada Tsunayoshi…

**Disclaimer**: This is not meant to be an amazing piece of work, but simply out there for those who are looking for a short reprieve from their KHR/HP addiction. You've been warned.

* * *

Act II. Kokuyo Land

Part 2

* * *

"Ken!" Harry called from over the sounds of sizzling eggs that he was currently cooking. "Can you take out the trash?"

Ken, as per usual, was lying comfortably on the sofa doing absolutely nothing at all, except maybe waiting for breakfast.

"Go to hell," Ken grumbled, but didn't do anything as insane as yell for Harry to take it out himself. He had obviously learned from the time he had done that and Harry had obliged him, leaving the food to burn. Needless to say, Ken had learned that the green eyed boy was not someone who would take commandments lying down. Still, that didn't mean that Ken wanted to do the work, especially if it wasn't for 'the Boss'. "Chikusa! You do it!"

The teen with the white beanie sighed, and put down the book he had been reading. Chikusa was currently sitting at the table, having just finished setting it up.

"I took out the trash last week," the black haired boy replied in an even tone, obviously indicating that it was Ken's turn this time.

Harry hid a smile. It'd been nearly a month since Mukuro, Ken, and Chikusa had started living with him, and he had learned of their habits. Ken was rough around the edges, and Chikusa acted like a stranger, but now he saw that there was more to them than that.

It was true, what Tsuna said. One had to take chances if they wanted to strike gold.

Well alright, Tsuna hadn't exactly said it like that, but it was close enough.

Who knew that what lay beneath such tough exteriors were actually such softies?

As if on cue, Ken lowered his legs from the sofa's armrests and got to a sitting position. He was still putting up a fight, but Harry knew now that it was more for the sake of fighting rather than the fact that he really wouldn't do it. "I don't see why we have to take out the trash right now anyway."

"Well we can't do it during the day," Harry said reasonably, "we're all in school."

Ken, Chikusa, and Mukuro had enrolled in Kokuyo Middle School somewhere down the line, which Harry supposed made more sense than him enrolling in Namimori. Kokuyo Middle School was closer to Kokuyo land, after all.

Well, it couldn't be helped. Namimori Middle School was the only place that Harry applied to that would give him a full scholarship _and_ not question him too much on his guardians. Honestly his background was quite sketchy, and it was a miracle a school had accepted him at all.

"And the garbage truck only comes around here Thursday at nine, so if we miss today we won't be able to get rid of the trash for another week," Chikusa added, "so it'd be best to put the garbage out now, before we start eating."

Ken narrowed his eyes, and let out what sounded like a cross between a huff and a snarl.

"What the hell?" The blond muttered, but nonetheless got up to do as he was asked, "I swear this is a conspiracy. The people with glasses against the people without."

Chikusa and Harry exchanged a look, and Harry had to glance away to stifle his laughter.

"That," Chikusa replied in a regal sounding voice, looking affronted, "is impossible, as it would put me against Mukuro-sama."

Harry couldn't hold back his laughter at that statement.

If there was one thing Harry had learned about the trio during their month long stay with him, it was that both Chikusa and Ken seemed to have a freakish devotion to Rokudo Mukuro.

Actually, now that he thought about it, it wasn't so different from how Gokudera and Yamamoto treated Tsuna. Huh.

He wondered there was someone like that in every group of friends.

"Sure, sure, laugh it up," Ken grumbled as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and vacated the room, going to do his duties.

"Thanks ever so for the permission," Harry mumbled to himself, and then turned his attention back to the eggs and pancakes.

Chikusa had a faint smile on his lips as he went back to reading his book.

Harry and Chikusa worked in peaceable silence for a bit before Ken came crashing back, followed soon after by Mukuro. Well, Mukuro didn't come _crashing back_, he _glided in_.

"How do you always manage to get here just when I'm done?" Harry asked with no small amount of disbelief as he handed out the plates of finished pancakes.

"Kufufu, what can I say? It's a talent," Mukuro smirked in reply as he slid into one of the seats surrounding the small table that had become their dining area. They'd gotten the table and extra chairs a few days into Mukuro and the rest moving in, as Harry realized that it would no longer do to have only accommodations for one.

Chikusa slid his book out of sight, and Ken quickly took the seat to Mukuro's right. Harry was left sitting across from the leader of the trio, as he always was.

Mukuro picked up his chopsticks, and jabbed at the dish. He raised an eyebrow, and a faint smile spread across his lips, "These wouldn't happen to be pancakes would they? I can't say I've had these in a while."

Realization dawned on Harry. He was so used to making his own food that he had almost forgotten what was normal. "Oh right, they're not made in Japan, are they?" And then, another thought struck him. "Wait, how do you know about pancakes?"

Mukuro raised a finger and waggled it, "Nah-uh-un Harry-kun, you promised you wouldn't ask questions. Curiosity killed the cat."

"And satisfaction brought it back," Harry retorted, smiling a little. Mukuro simply chuckled and started on his meal. Harry did the same. "Seriously though, unless you only know about pancakes because you… oh I dunno, snuck into a high class western restaurant to assassinate a political figure there and then, ate his meal which happened to be pancakes just in order to spite him… well, _then_ I could see why you would keep it a secret."

Mukuro paused mid-bite, and put down his chopsticks.

Harry's eyes went wide, "Don't tell that's actually what—"

Mukuro threw back his head, and laughed. It was a long, loud and ringing laugh, one that he often showed in Harry's presence. Harry wasn't sure if it was just amused or mocking. He couldn't really call Mukuro out on it either, just in case it was Mukuro's genuine laugh, and then Harry would feel like an idiot for stating otherwise.

"Harry-kun, you never cease to amuse me," Mukuro said when he finally calmed. His mismatched eyes were sparkling, "You have the most vivid imagination. No, don't worry, it was nothing like that. I've simply been in other countries before, that's all."

Harry fought down a blush. _Of course_ it couldn't be like what he had stipulated, so why had he actually believed it for a moment? Hanging out with Tsuna and the gang had really destroyed his sense of normalcy, but Harry had to remember that the rest of the world wasn't as insane as Tsuna's group.

"Right, I knew that," he said instead, though Mukuro's amused expression told him that he didn't believe him.

"If you knew that you wouldn't have asked," the blue haired boy pointed out.

"Well maybe I needed confirmation. Not all of us have ESP you know."

Something flashed in those eyes, but it was gone so quickly that Harry would almost have thought that he imagined it, except that he saw it every time he mentioned the supernatural in relation to Mukuro. There was something going on there, that much was obvious. But, as Harry had promised, he wouldn't pry.

"On the contrary Harry, extrasensory perceptions is something that everybody has," Chikusa said calmly, cutting up his pieces of pancake with his chopsticks. "However, it is simply not to the extent to which everybody thinks that it should be. It is instinct and intuition, but it is not the ability to read minds. By the way, these pancakes are delicious. Thank you for the meal."

"Che, they aren't bad," Ken mumbled in agreement.

Harry felt his lips twitch. Mukuro's mind games, Chikusa's arbitrary knowledge, and Ken's reluctant acknowledgements were something so common to him now that if he didn't see them, it would be disturbing. No meal was complete without something of this sort happening.

The four fell into a light chatter as they finished up their meals. It was Mukuro and Harry who did most of the bantering, with Chikusa inserting an excellent point here or there and Ken grumbling something or other every few minutes. It was habit to them, now.

Soon, breakfast was over.

Mukuro waved for Harry to go, explaining that since Harry's school was further and he needed to leave right away in able not to be late. Mukuro and the rest could wait a while yet, so they would be the ones to clean up after breakfast.

"You guys are in a good mood today," Harry commented amusedly, as Mukuro had never offered this before. He wondered if he'd put too much sugar in the pancakes.

"Kufufu, how astute of you to notice, Harry-kun. You're right. Yesterday we found… a large piece to the puzzle we have been looking for. It was a fortunate break."

Harry shook his head, but decided not to take his cleaning break for granted. He had a sneaking suspicion that it would be Ken and Chikusa that did all the actual work, but as long as they didn't mind, who was he to interfere? They certainly wouldn't appreciate it.

As Harry walked to Namimori, he couldn't help but allow his thoughts to wander. Perhaps it was the odd actions of Mukuro today that caused it, or perhaps not. It wasn't like there was a lot else to do on the otherwise lonely road.

The past month had been… interesting, to say in the least. It had taken almost a month for Harry to get used to Tsuna and co's acceptance, and it had taken just as long for him to get used to Mukuro and the rest.

Still, now he couldn't imagine living without them, just as he couldn't imagine living without the reassurance that Tsuna's group would always be there for him should he ever get into trouble. A part of him was disgusted with himself for becoming so dependant, but a much larger part of him was rejoicing over the fact that he finally got what he had always wanted… friends.

He'd tried introducing Mukuro, Ken, and Chikusa to Tsuna's gang before, but Mukuro hadn't been very interested. Mukuro had been more interested in the school Harry was attending, but that, Harry supposed, made sense. After all, at that time Mukuro was still looking for a school to transfer to.

It was a shame though. Harry felt like Mukuro and the rest could really use Tsuna's presence. Tsuna had a… definite _something_ about him, though Harry wasn't sure what it was. All he knew was that over the past two months he had come to see it more and more clearly.

Somehow or another Tsuna and Mukuro's group had never interacted, despite their closeness to Harry. Then again, perhaps Harry was just being boastful if he thought he was particularly close to either group. His level of interaction with them was enough for himself, certainly, but he wouldn't deny that he would never be a Ken or Gokudera.

Heck, he wasn't even close to Chikusa or Yamamoto in terms of 'hanging out with the boss'.

Harry had to stifle a laugh at that thought, knowing that it would make him look crazy if he suddenly started laughing at nothing. Seriously though, how each member of the groups he knew treated their appointed leader _was_ pretty amusing. It was almost like they were back in the thirteenth century and Tsuna and Mukuro were kings or something.

Maybe it was best that Mukuro's and Tsuna's gangs didn't meet. It might become a war between kingdoms, and although Harry could see both sides benefiting from each other, he supposed that they might not survive the initial clash between Gokudera and Ken.

Now _that_ conversation would be interesting.

"_The Tenth!"_

"_The Boss!"_

…or not so interesting.

For someone who was so good at bantering, Ken sure devolved into a four year old whenever Mukuro was mentioned. Harry would know, since he was the one whom Ken would argue with most.

Were Mukuro, Ken, and Chikusa his friends? It was hard to say. They weren't exactly like Tsuna's gang; they weren't kind, or caring, or even accepting, but living with them… wasn't bad.

They had even paid for their stay, so Harry's finances wouldn't experience any drain.

The first time Mukuro had brought him money, Harry had been suspicious. After all, where could a couple of teenagers on the run get some cash? Mukuro however, seemed to be able to read his mind as always.

"Kufufu, do not worry Harry-kun, we didn't steal this from their rightful owners. Although I am curious. How do _you_ get your money if you're so obviously against thievery?"

His eyes had sparkled with an odd curiosity, then.

"It's not so much that I'm against thievery," Harry had replied quite honestly, though now he wondered why he _had_ replied so honestly. It wasn't like him to randomly give his opinion like that. "I'm against bullying, which is what stealing usually tends to be, and I know that there's no such thing as a modern day Robin Hood. But if you really want to know how I get money; I have a job."

Mukuro had seemed to mull over what he said, before smiling lightly. "A job, hmm? That's against the rules."

"Are you going to report me?" Harry had asked dryly, only to get that disquieting laugh in reply.

And that was the end of that. From then on, every week Mukuro would bring Harry the amount that matched how much he, Chikusa, and Ken had eaten, and Harry never asked again where the money had come from. To do so would be an insult.

He honestly hated the fact that he had to accept the money, because it made it seem more as if Mukuro and the rest were simply renting his place instead of living there, but he had no choice but to accept.

Harry wasn't made of money after all, and as much as he wished he could be generous, he simply could not afford to.

But friends didn't have to worry about that, did they?

Harry knew that if he ever brought up the word 'friendship' in Mukuro's or Chikusa's presence, they would only think him unbelievably sappy. Ken would probably get enraged, yelling something about 'who needs friendship' and 'who would be friends with you anyway?'.

But did that change what they were?

Harry shook the confusing thought out of his head as he finally arrived at Namimori Middle School. It wouldn't change anything to think about it, anyway. _He_ didn't have Tsuna's amazing ability to change everyone into a friend.

(And yes he knew about that now, because he had been there to witness firsthand Tsuna's magic. Longchamp had stood no chance. Harry still couldn't help but feel stunned when he thought about it.)

School was as per usual. Harry heard about some incident in class 1-B, passed by a bloody classmate begging the disciplinary committee for mercy, and during lunch time the sounds of mini-explosions rocked the backyard. Everything was completely normal.

"So what happened this time?" Harry asked as the final bell rang, signalling the end of school. He was leaning against the entrance to class 1-B, having decided to peek in on the younger years' class. The third years had been let out ten minutes earlier.

"Potter-san!" Tsuna's eyes lit up. He hurriedly packed away his stuff, and shot up from his seat, knocking over his chair in the process. Not even blushing because such an action was so common for him, Tsuna moved to put the chair back up, only for Gokudera to block him.

"I'll get it, Tenth!" The half-Italian cried, going about his task of setting Tsuna's chair back up.

"Gokudera-kun, you really don't have to…" Tsuna started in protest, only to trail off with a sigh. "Oh never mind. Thank you, Gokudera-kun."

"Anything for the Tenth!"

Tsuna just shook his head. Turning away from Gokudera, Tsuna rushed up to Harry, "You don't have work today, right Potter-san?"

Harry nodded, exchanging an amused look with Yamamoto at the jealous glower Gokudera sent his way.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been around," Harry said. Between his school, job, and responsibilities of being a scholarship student, Harry was lucky to see Tsuna's gang twice a week.

"No problem," Yamamoto grinned, walking over to the two and slinging an arm around Harry's shoulder, "as long as you're here now, it's all good. Right, Tsuna?"

Tsuna gave an enthusiastic nod back.

They went to the arcade after school, because a new game had come out and Tsuna wanted to try it. Tsuna failed terribly, and Harry didn't have enough money to spare to play more than four games, but it was fun watching Gokudera and Yamamoto going at it like two Nidokings fighting over the right to the prettiest Nidoqueen.

Over the buzz of the arcade and the shouts of victory or defeat from the customers, Tsuna and Harry sat on small beanbags at the corner of the arcade, watching the rest and chattering with each other happily. They caught up with each other's lives and made bets on who would win the latest round. Gokudera or Yamamoto?

"You know," Tsuna said with a sigh as Gokudera and Yamamoto started their eighth game, "I'm really happy Potter-san is here. Things are always more normal when you're around."

"I think my good luck cancels out yours, Sawada-kun," Harry joked.

"Ah," Tsuna said with a roll of his eyes, "I'm not even sure if it's my bad luck or just Reborn _making_ it my bad luck."

The time passed quickly, and before Harry knew it, it was five o'clock.

"Ah!" Harry said, jumping out of his seat, "I have to go."

Tsuna looked up at him, a confused expression on his face. "Eh? Why?"

"It's… uh…"

Harry didn't want to lie, but he couldn't say the truth either. He couldn't tell Tsuna and the others that he had to leave because it would take forty minutes to walk back to Kokuyo land, and another twenty minutes to cook dinner.

And he hadn't told Tsuna about his 'roommates'.

Why? Because it would bring up uncomfortable questions. They still didn't know where he lived, and if he told them three homeless teens were living with him, then the cat would be out of the bag.

He didn't want Tsuna and the others to know that his parents were dead yet, and that his relatives had abandoned him. He didn't want the pity.

"Oh! It's because it's nearing dinner time, isn't it?" Tsuna exclaimed, saving Harry from an explanation. He flushed slightly, "Eh-he, sorry for not realizing sooner. You usually go home at around this time, don't you? Well, we usually have dinner at six thirty, so I didn't notice…"

Harry was relieved he didn't have to do any explaining. "Thank you for being understanding, Sawada-kun."

Tsuna shook his head, "I should be apologizing for not recognizing it sooner! Man, if Reborn were here, he'd probably shoot me!"

And then, as if realizing what he had just said, Tsuna jumped up, looking around wildly. Harry noticed that Tsuna did that a lot whenever he mentioned Reborn, as if Tsuna expected the baby to pop out of nowhere.

"Would he really shoot you?" Harry had once asked, a little disturbed. Usually he wouldn't have worried about it, but there was something distinctly… off, about Reborn.

Tsuna had given him a look of a deer caught in headlights, and then quickly shook his head in denial. Still, Harry hadn't been 100% convinced, and he still wasn't now.

"Anyhow," Tsuna said, sitting back down and laughing nervously. Harry wondered if Tsuna saw his distinctly suspicious look. "It was really great having you with us for dinner last time. Will you do it again sometime?"

Now it was Harry's turn to flush. All thoughts of a fishy baby were thrown out of his mind. "I uh… um that is…"

He did want to see Mrs. Sawada again, but at the same time… he really didn't. Her warmth and her homeliness aroused feelings in him that he didn't know he had missed, but at the same time it made him feel a thousand times worse when he got home only to realize that he _didn't_ have someone like that waiting for him.

Besides, Mrs. Sawada wasn't his mother, and it felt like too much of a betrayal to Lily Potter to even think of her as such.

He still wasn't sure if it had been a mistake or not to take Tsuna up on his offer that first night. Of course, he had done it so that Tsuna wouldn't feel depressed, but there was always Gokudera and Yamamoto to knock Tsuna out of depression. Harry wasn't sure if he could go through another meal at the Sawada's again.

"Maybe," Harry finally replied, his voice as vague as his words, "I'm really busy unfortunately, so…"

Tsuna's face dropped, and Harry felt terrible.

"Potter-san is so responsible," Tsuna sighed. "Your parents must be really proud of you."

"…"

"Oh that reminds me! Mom wanted to know if you'd seen Fuuta."

"Fuuta?" Harry startled. Not that he wasn't glad for the turn of conversation, but still, it was a bit random. "No, why?"

"Oh, it's nothing really, it's just that we haven't seen him since yesterday morning. He probably just wandered off somewhere—he does that a lot—but mom was worried, so I thought I'd ask."

Harry frowned, not really liking that logic. He opened his mouth to say something, when a certain silver haired teenager unintentionally interrupted him.

"Yes!" Gokudera yelled, his voice ringing through the arcade. He had his fist in the air, chin raised as if he had just won some grand prize. "Take that baseball-nut! I've stomped all over you!"

"Oh, don't count on it," Yamamoto said softly in reply, an unusual but distinctive hard edge in his voice. Harry took that as his 'competition voice'. "We're tied now. There's still one more round left."

"You're on!"

"Ah-ah! They're done?" Tsuna paled. He looked at the clock, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Harry-kun, I've kept you for an extra fifteen minutes!"

Harry tensed, and cursed. He quickly grabbed his bag, and made to dash, "Sorry Tsuna-kun, it looks like I'll have to leave abruptly. Tell Yamamoto-kun and Gokudera-kun goodbye for me."

With one last wave at the brown haired boy, Harry rushed out of the arcade, and started running home.

He still wasn't totally agreeable on the topic of Fuuta, but he didn't really have time to talk to Tsuna about it at the moment. Maybe tomorrow?

Thankfully, due to the training his teacher at Stonewall had given him, Harry was able to keep up a light jog the whole way back to Kokuyo land. The only thing weighing him down was his bag, but he didn't have any valuables in it, so thankfully he didn't have to worry about moving carefully.

Despite whatever else his sensei might have done, he had at least taught Harry how to use his body to the maximum well enough.

Harry arrived home at five thirty five, a little out of breath and with a few stitches to boot. He bitterly realized that he was out of shape.

Well, with all the non-stop studying he had been doing ever since he got to Japan, it was to be expected. And it wasn't like he had a reason to stay in shape any longer. He was done with that life.

Allowing himself a moment to catch his breath, Harry made his way back to his room, where Mukuro, Chikusa, and Ken were sure to be waiting.

Unlike in the mornings, Mukuro didn't show up at the last minute to only enjoy the meal but skip all the work. Harry wasn't sure if it was just because Mukuro couldn't wake up that early, or if it was something else entirely.

In fact, Mukuro usually helped Harry with dinner, since it involved chopping, and Mukuro apparently knew how to use a knife very well.

Harry didn't ask where the blue haired boy had learned how to use the cooking utensil without learning the cooking that came with it.

"Harry-kun," Mukuro greeted as Harry entered and dropped off his stuff at the foot of the couch. After dinner was the time that they did homework, and Ken had no end of questions for him and Chikusa.

Chikusa usually was enough, but sometimes the beanie wearing boy would resort to one word answers when he was caught up in something 'interesting', which wasn't very helpful at all.

Ken and Chikusa were standing in the kitchen portion of the room, along with Mukuro. It was slightly unusual for them, but Harry right away noticed the odd smell in the air. He had a sneaking suspicion that the two were trying to hide something from him, and Mukuro was in on it for the jollies.

Well, he'd address that later. He didn't _think_ Chikusa was the type of person who'd break something and wouldn't own up to it.

"So what do you guys want to have for dinner tonight?" Harry simply asked as a way of reply. He decided it would be best to act normal, and then catch them off guard.

"Actually," Mukuro smirked, taking a step away from the kitchen area, "we were wondering what _you_ would want for dinner."

"Eh?"

It was Harry who was caught off guard.

Mukuro made a sweeping gesture towards the oven, even going as far as to give a mocking little bow. Chikusa pushed himself off the counter ledge and walked languidly over to the oven. He opened the flap, and the strange smell from earlier became a dozen times stronger.

Harry sucked in a breath. Now that it permeated the air, Harry could almost recognize the smell. It was tugging at his senses, taking his mind down the memory lane. He couldn't quite place it yet, but that didn't change the fact that he now realized the smell was _good_.

Not even bothering to get the oven mitts, Chikusa reached out a hand to get whatever it was that they had in there. Harry opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, Chikusa had already lifted the pan from within the home appliance and set it down on the counter.

Harry's reprimanding words died on his lips as he caught sight of what it was apparently that Mukuro and the rest had cooked. Inside the pan was something airy and puffy, like angel food cake, but rich with meat and oozing with cheese. There was no mistaking it.

"Lasagna," Harry said dazedly, remembering the time back in fifth grade when they'd had a school potluck. A little girl had brought in a batch, saying that her mother had insisted on making some. By the time Dudley had finished with the rest of the foodstuffs, he'd been too stuffed for lasagna, and Harry had the chance to try some.

It had been heavenly.

He'd tried to recreate the dish when he'd gotten his freedom, but the individual ingredients were too expensive. He'd given up trying, and by now he'd almost completely forgotten about it.

"How…?" Harry murmured, still unable to believe it.

How did they know?

"Kufufu. Your Japanese is very good, but your grammar is a little awkward at some parts, which leads me to believe that it isn't your first language. Added with your looks, I assumed that you grew up in Europe, which has lasagna as one of its trademarks. Am I correct?"

So that was it.

Harry cleared his throat. "And why…? I mean, you guys cooking, well this is a first."

"Tch, can't you just be thankful that Mukuro-sama went through all this trouble for you?" Ken sneered, crossing his arms.

Chikusa let out a sigh at the blonde's words, and pushed up his glasses. "Ken, he was just curious, and he has a right to be. After all, why would we for seemingly no reason decide to do the cooking when we have previously shown no talent at it? Potter-san, the reason is simply thus: we have been very appreciative of your efforts for us and have decided to repay your kindness in some small way, hence this preparation."

Ken let out a snort, and looked away, but Harry noticed the slight flush to his cheeks. "Che, I don't know about Kakipi's reasons, but I figured that if you could cook, it couldn't be too hard of a skill to learn. That's all."

Harry felt touched.

They had… done this for him.

Part of him wanted to tease little Ken-chan for being so embarrassed (a part, he thought, that had been given birth because of Mukuro) but it seemed an inappropriate response to what they had done. So instead, he settled for some bit of normalcy.

"Well then, it's a little early, but should we get started on dinner? Lasagna tastes the best when it's fresh."

The others gave their gestures of agreement and the four of them quickly got to setting the table. Mukuro did the honours of cutting everybody a piece. Before he knew it, Harry was sitting in front of a plate of mouth-watering lasagna.

He sank his chopsticks in like he would have used a fork, and brought the piece to his mouth. He took a bite, and closed his eyes in satisfaction. If he were Remy from Ratatouille, he'd have said that he'd gone blind from all the fireworks happening behind his eyes.

"This is delicious," he sighed, opening his eyes again to give Mukuro, Chikusa, and Ken a look of appreciation.

"Che, like I said, cooking ain't that hard." Ken mumbled.

"And that is why we had to redo the dish eight times, right Ken?" Chikusa said flatly. "Don't lie, it's bad for your health."

Harry stifled a laugh. So this was the product of many failures, eh? No wonder Mukuro had been so eager to get rid of him this morning. He had to admit it, he was touched.

"Well, if you've learned how to cook, you should do the cooking from now on, Ken." Harry said as he stuck another piece of lasagna into his mouth. He couldn't completely keep the teasing tone from his voice. "I'm sure that the meals will be much tastier now that they're made by the masterful Ken-sama."

For some reason, instead of cussing at him like Harry would have expected, Ken frowned.

Harry's teasing smile fell from his face.

What…?

"Kufufu, if I knew that all it would take for you to acknowledge me as superior was for me to cook a meal better than you, I would have learned that skill a long time ago."

"I do acknowledge you as superior Mukuro-sama. You have such a superior ego," Harry shot back. He shook his head to get rid of the awkward feeling. If Mukuro was still teasing as per usual, nothing could be wrong, could it?

Dinner passed as it usually did. If Harry noticed Ken acting a little quieter than usual, or Chikusa a little more conversational, he didn't comment on it. Only Mukuro remained a constant, diverting his attention every time he became the littlest suspicious something was going on.

Actually, that was suspicious all in itself.

When dinner ended Chikusa and Ken got up to clean before Harry could even do anything. He sat there, a little stunned, watching the two disbelievingly. Ken he knew would never initiate any sort of work unless it was for 'the Boss', and Chikusa didn't like to break routine.

"Uh…" Harry said stupidly.

"They're the chiefs this time, so we've got to go through with everything," Mukuro explained from across him, his eyes twinkling with inner amusement. "Wait here, Harry-kun, I'll be right back."

Something sounded fishy about that, but unfortunately Harry didn't know enough to start pointing fingers just yet.

A few minutes later Mukuro came back, a familiar chess set in his hands. By now Ken and Chikusa had finished cleaning the table, and the place was spotless.

Mukuro slid back into his seat, and put the chess set down. Then, he started setting up the pieces. Ken and Chikusa had disappeared to who knows where just like every time they started playing the game, but this time... well, it wasn't the _time_.

Harry finally got his tongue to work again.

"What's going on?" Harry asked suspiciously.

They usually did homework after dinner. And then, around nine o'clock or so, he and Mukuro would play a game of chess. Harry was balls at it, but Mukuro seemed to find some amusement in playing him. Certainly, Ken and Chikusa would never be able to play Mukuro seriously.

"Kufufu, have patience," Mukuro smirked in reply, putting the final piece into place. "This game first, and then I'll tell you. Play seriously, Harry-kun, because I'll know if you don't."

And he would. The few times Harry had played Mukuro with a distracted mind, Mukuro had not only utterly trounced him, but then had declared that they needed a rematch. And then, he wouldn't let Harry go to bed until the black haired boy agreed to it.

Harry nodded grimly, and then the game began.

Honestly, the initial thinking period should have taken half an hour at least, but Harry was never much of a long-term planner. After ten minutes his brain started to hurt, and he made his opening move. He had always been more of an impulsive sort of guy, and not even Mukuro could cure him of that.

They matched wits as pawns, knights and bishops cleared the board. Harry was thinking seven steps ahead with every move, but even then he didn't think it was enough. Time passed in a whirlwind as it always did whenever they decided to play chess.

When the game was over, Harry almost couldn't believe it. He just stared at the result on the table, wondering if he his eyes had gotten so bad in the past few years that he'd actually gone blind and had just never noticed it. Mukuro sat back, an unreadable expression on his face, leaving Harry to stare at the board alone.

"I… won." Harry said, stunned. He had never won before.

"I suppose you have," Mukuro said neutrally. "To tell you the truth I never expected you to beat me. Congratulations. I suppose I should tell you now that—"

"Wa—wait!" Harry exclaimed. Something didn't seem right with this picture, and there was something about Mukuro's words that were distinctly off. Mukuro never lied, but he, like Harry, was a master at the art of half-truths.

Mukuro indeed did pause, cocking a brow at him as if Harry were a little schoolboy who had just made a ridiculous outburst.

Harry didn't back down. He stood up, and started pacing the room.

"Everything went just as I planned," he muttered to himself, "well, er, sort of. Your queen was taken by my rook, and that left your right side open. I capsized on that and destroyed your field with my remaining knight and queen. Then, your king was put into a check that was inescapable, and the declaration of 'checkmate' wasn't a toss in but…"

He sat back down, and banged his hand on the table. The chess pieces jumped slightly from the force. He felt angry, angrier than ever before at Mukuro. The pieces clicked together in his mind, and he didn't like the picture he saw. "But if it's you, you should have stopped me before I got to that point, right? This game was too easy. You led me to victory!"

Mukuro watched him passively for a minute, and then, slowly he nodded. "You've been a fun opponent Harry-kun, but your chess skills are still at the level where I can control the board to my will."

"So what the heck was that game then? A way to test your skills?"

Mukuro smiled mysteriously, "Who knows? Besides, wouldn't you like to be left with a victory?"

"No," Harry grumbled, calming down some, "and quite frankly it's insulting that you would lead me to victory like this."

Mukuro stopped, and stared at him for a long time, making Harry shift a little in discomfort. And then, the Kokuyo student threw back his head, and laughed. Harry would have wondered if the man had gone mad if he hadn't seen so many similar instances like that.

When he calmed, Mukuro inclined his head in acknowledgement, a sly smile ghosted on his lips. "Kufufu, you are correct, I have misjudged this situation. Tell me, what is it then that you would like to be left with?"

Harry let out a frustrated sigh. Mukuro _still_ didn't get it. "Nothing! You'd think that after living with a guy for a month you'd understand that—"

And suddenly, _he_ understood.

He stopped mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open like a fish. He quickly snapped it shut, but he wasn't able to snap his brain shut. Harry swallowed. Mukuro's words… suddenly dissolved into something less insulting, and into something much worse.

"Are you guys leaving?" He asked softly. The dinner, the odd behaviour, and now this talk… it all made sense now.

There was a moments of silence.

"Yes," Mukuro said finally. "We've… found what we were looking for. You've been a very good host, Harry-kun."

Harry's head shot up. For the first time since Harry had met the man, Rokudo Mukuro sounded serious.

"And now," the Kokuyo Middle School student with the mismatched eyes continued, "your part is done. You can rest now."

Harry's eyes widened as Mukuro's presence changed into something _more_. He suddenly felt powerful and invincible, terrifying and graceful. For the first time since they had arrived, Harry thought he might understand why Ken and Chikusa treated Mukuro the way that they did.

Mukuro leaned forward, and put a finger to Harry's forehead. Harry made to jerk back, but found himself frozen. "_Sleep_, Harry-kun."

"Wha…?"

But before the word was even fully formed, Harry felt the curtain close around him. He struggled, but it was no use. The overpowering darkness tugged harshly at him, and pulled him under…

* * *

_He had a dream. An awful, horrifying dream._

_He was racing down the hallways of Kokuyo land, except that it wasn't the Kokuyo land that he recognized. Stairways were blown apart, and new gaping holes were found all along the walls. Kokuyo land had never looked stellar, but it had never looked like it was about to fall apart at any second, either._

_As he dashed around another corner, he noticed that every staircase in the building was wrecked, as if somebody had deliberately cut off the way to a certain place. Yet, he seemed to know where to go. Or at least, his body did._

_When he twisted past a fallen cobblestone, Harry finally recognized where he was running to. It was an old stage room in one of the funhouses. However, he had absolutely no idea why he was rushing there as if his life depended on it._

_He got his answer a short while later when he shoved open the entrance door, to find the strangest sight to greet him._

_Tsuna was standing smack dab in the middle of the room, with Reborn beside him and a confused look on his face. Near the stage and consequently, furthest from Harry was Bianchi, who sported a twisted smile that Harry had never seen directed at him. Lastly, Gokudera was standing between Tsuna and himself, a little to the right, his back facing Harry and his attention focused solely on the brown haired boy._

_Just… what was this?_

_Tsuna gasped as he heard the sound of the only door being pushed open. Reborn tensed as Tsuna whipped around, turning away from Bianchi and resting his wide, brown eyes on Harry. "Potter-san?"_

"_Tsuna," he heard his voice say, except that it wasn't his voice at all. It had a harsh and reproving quality to it that just felt all wrong somehow. "Tsuna, why did you abandon me? I've been gone for ten days and you Didn't. Even. Look."_

"_I—I—I—I'm sorry, Potter-san! I know it's no excuse but we aren't in the same class, so…! So we never realized that you were gone until Nii-san mentioned how odd it was that you'd been skipping classes. By that time, Mukuro and the rest had already…"_

"_You're right," Harry said, lowering his face so that his bangs covered his eyes. He could feel his hand moving towards his stomach. "That is no excuse."_

_And then, before he could stop himself, Harry lashed out, his chain flying through the air towards Tsuna. _

_Reborn, thankfully, came to the rescue. The little baby leapt up, kicking Tsuna away just before the chain reached him. _

_Tsuna landed on his elbows, a look of pain on his face. He looked up at Harry in disbelief._

"_Po—Po—Potter-san…? No…" Tsuna for once, sounded mad. Very, very mad. He struggled to his feet, and whirled to face Bianchi, his eyes blazing, "So you did have Potter-san after all!"_

_Bianchi threw back her head and laughed. The manner was all too familiar, though Harry had no idea why it was that way. "Kufufu! Did I ever say I didn't have him?"_

"_B—but, when we asked, you went all silent and—"_

"_And what does that imply? I was simply surprised that you had figured it all out, Vonogla." _

"_Why Potter-san? Why?"_

_Bianchi threw back her head and laughed. "Are you seriously asking that question? It's one less ally for you, and a completely fresh body for me…"_

"_You're sick!" Tsuna yelled, "Completely sick! Potter-san isn't even involved in all this mafia stuff!"_

_A flicker of surprise flashed across Bianchi's face, followed by what seemed like… relief(?), before it was quickly replaced by amusement again. "Do you think I care, Vongola? He's ranked second on Fuuta's list, and that's useful for me. And ah, it seems as if the reinforcements have arrived."_

_Harry felt more than saw the door behind him swish open once again. Two sets of footsteps entered in, but Harry had no idea who it was._

_Tsuna's face turned pale, "That's…!"_

"_Those two as well, hm?" Reborn said, a nonchalant expression on his face despite the potency of his next words. "I have never heard of simultaneous possession of five people at once."_

"_And that's not all," Gokudera suddenly said, cutting into the conversation. Like Bianchi, his voice had an odd, crystalline quality to it. Harry couldn't see his face, but he saw the movement Gokudera made towards his pockets. He threw his arms upwards, and something flew into the air with them."Dynamite!"_

_Explosions rocked the funhouse, but Harry didn't take any time to orient himself. He instead, found himself rushing towards the thick of it, his chain lashing out harshly through the air._

"_This is the second state," Harry heard himself saying in response to something the baby had muttered. He forced his chain towards Reborn, intent on wrapping it around the baby's thin little neck and twisting it off. "This is the state of hungry ghosts, a skill which allows me to steal the abilities of others."_

"_How troublesome," Reborn said as he leapt higher than what should have been humanly possible, "even when possessing others, you can use the skills carved out from your previous lives?"_

_That statement made absolutely no sense whatsoever, but it seemed that Harry's body didn't care, for he flew at the baby with an agility he only reserved for the people he hated. _

_And just then, lava erupted from the ground._

_Lava._

_From the ground._

_In Kokuyo land, where Harry was sure that there wasn't a volcano buried somewhere._

_Tsuna's screams split the air._

"_You never learn, do you?" Reborn's voice cut in as he flipped over a strike made by Ken, "this is an illusion."_

_An illusion…? This dream was just getting weirder and weirder._

_It was bad enough that he was apparently attacking Tsuna with no control whatsoever of his body, but now there were confusing talks of illusions and possessing. _

_The next progress of events happened so quickly that even Harry with all his training was unsure of them. Ken and Chikusa weren't talking like themselves, and neither was he. Gokudera and Bianchi of all people were attacking Reborn, and Harry found himself joining them. _

_And then, Chikusa collapsed, said something about how it didn't matter if his body broke or not because he wasn't feeling any pain, and for the briefest moment, made Harry forget that he was in a dream. He'd felt anger bubble up within him then, at the unseen adversary Tsuna was fighting._

_It was only Tsuna's righteous anger that calmed him, as odd as that sounded. Tsuna, with his tears and fear had said something incredible again. _

"_I want… to defeat Mukuro. I don't want to lose… to such a cruel person. Just you! I want to defeat you!"_

_And then the giant balloon had exploded with light._

_Everybody was yelling something, but Harry was hardly paying attention. Even as his body moved to the balloon which had been dubbed 'Leon' (and wasn't that odd, because Harry had been sure Leon was the name of Tsuna's pet lizard), his mind could not move from its place with Tsuna's words._

I want… to defeat **Mukuro**.

_But that was impossible, wasn't it?_

_And then the explosions rocked the room. Tsuna let out a scream, and Harry was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts as he refocused again on the scenes which his eyes fed him._

_The scene before him made his breath stop._

_Tsuna was lying sprawled on the ground, his eyes squeezed shut and multiple burns all over his body. He didn't look like he was breathing. _

_Harry felt himself stumble back a step._

_No! Tsuna!_

_No… no… he couldn't believe it. Even if this was a dream, seeing Tsuna hurt so badly was crazy._

_It was… thoroughly unbelievable._

_Just what kind of sick dream was this?_

_Chikusa walked over to Tsuna, muttering something under his breath. He slashed the trident towards the fallen brown haired boy, fully intent on stabbing him through._

_Harry felt his spirit rebel. No, no! He had to stop this. But his body didn't obey his command._

_And then, something incredible happened. _

_Light exploded from Tsuna's area._

_Harry couldn't see what was happening, since Chikusa's body was blocking him, but he did see Chikusa jerk back, his body language screaming bewilderment._

"_Mukuro, if I don't defeat you…" Tsuna's voice started, sounding more calm and poised than ever before. It sounded more like himself and less like himself than ever before; it had an authority and power that simply made Harry stare wide-eyed at the boy, unable to move a muscle. He thought he saw something on Tsuna's forehead. A… flame?_

"_Even if I'm dying… I will not give up!"_

_Harry felt his chest compress as the words struck him at the core. This air was unbelievable!_

"_That aura on your forehead," Chikusa started, "I see… you were hit by a special bullet after all. But you seemed to be a lot more fired up in the fight with Lancia earlier."_

_Reborn hummed in disagreement. "The Rebuke Bullet brings out the calm fighting skill in Tsuna. It's a completely new bullet—different from the Dying Will Bullet—with a totally new hidden power."_

"_Pfft. All I see is a person who's lost his fighting will or a spirit which has sunk into despair. Either way, you are not a match for my skills."_

_Suddenly Ken came out of seemingly nowhere, springing at Tsuna like a jaguar. Tsuna didn't even turn to look. Suddenly his arm was in the air, his hand catching Ken's face just above his own shoulder. Tsuna shifted his weight to the left, and sent a quick jab with his elbow into the blonde's nose, sending him flying. _

_Ken landed with a sickening crunch, and didn't get up again._

"_Hmm, not so fast," Chikusa said, running towards Tsuna. Two images overlapped; one of what Chikusa was really doing, and a shadowy image of another Chikusa scattering iron needles in Tsuna's direction. _

_Harry felt confusion well up within him, but he was not a scholarship student for nothing. Every other time he had seen those shadowy images Reborn had cut in with 'it's an illusion, isn't it?', so that must mean…_

_Tsuna seemed to have known, too, because the one he concentrated on was the real Chikusa. He slammed his elbow into the teen's gut, and the shadow images disappeared._

"_What?"Gokudera explained, surprise clear on his face, "That's… impossible." _

_Bianchi nodded in agreement, her voice holding the slightest bit of a tremor, "He couldn't see the illusions of the state of hell before."_

_Reborn chuckled, and went into what Tsuna had once dubbed as his 'lecture mode'. He started explaining something about 'Dying Will Flames' that made absolutely no sense to Harry at all, but dawning looks of comprehension on Gokudera's and Bianchi's faces told him it wasn't completely useless._

_And then, someone chuckled, and stepped forward into the spotlight._

_It took a moment for Harry to realize that it was himself. _

_Tsuna and Reborn whirled to face him, and he smirked darkly in reply._

"_Well honestly, Chikusa and Ken were already at their limits. This body?" Harry pulled up his sleeve, and ran a finger down his arm. He smiled chillingly at Tsuna, "This body? Not so much. It's as new as a baby, no offense meant, little acrobaleno."_

"_Hn," was all Reborn said._

_And then, Harry sprang at them._

_Or more correctly, at Tsuna._

_His chain swished out, silent as a snake and as quick as lighting. Tsuna tilted his body, allowing the chain to bypass him completely. Harry smirked; no, that wasn't enough for an opponent of his calibre._

_The black haired boy jerked his wrist to the right, and his chain followed him. Tsuna's eyes widened slightly as the chain curled, making a strike towards him with its side. Making a 'tch' noise, Tsuna leapt into the air, barely avoiding the deadly cut to his stomach._

_Harry grinned and yanked the chain upwards, twisting his body to give the weapon the momentum to follow through. Now that Tsuna was in the air, he would have a hard time avoiding it._

_Tsuna seemed to have realized the same thing. Gritting his teeth, he shoved his gloved hands into the chain's path (and since when had they been gloved? Harry couldn't help but wonder. Wasn't he just wearing mittens?) effectively blocking the strike. Tsuna winced a little, showing that the strike did hurt, but he had managed to curtail the brunt of it._

_Tsuna landed with a crouch, his hair covering his eyes. And then, he looked up, his eyes a glowing amber. "Now, my turn."_

_Harry hardly had time to think. Tsuna leapt at him at a speed that Harry didn't even know was possible, and it was only Harry's reflexes that allowed him to escape the punch. He angled his body sideways, narrowly avoiding Tsuna's entrance, and went to grab onto Tsuna's wrist. Tsuna twisted so that Harry's hand hit his upper arm instead, and the brown haired boy quickly followed up with a sideways kick. _

_Harry bent backwards, forming a bridge with his body, so that the kick slid over him. He knew that it was impossible for the kick to change mid-direction, especially one that had so much force in it. _

_The green eyed boy tugged at his chain, recalling it back to him and more. He forced the chain to snake along the ground, making a noose around Tsuna's other leg. The leg supporting him. And then, he tightened to noose._

_At the last second Tsuna sprung into the air using his leg, just narrowly avoiding Harry's knot. Tsuna used his hands as leverage to propel himself back into a standing position, but now he was quite a distance away from Harry again._

_Harry raised his chain again, and lashed out towards Tsuna. This time, Tsuna didn't dodge_

_Green eyes widened as Tsuna grabbed hold of the chair, with apparently no feel for the power behind the strike. Tsuna gave a tug, and Harry wasn't able to let go in time. He stumbled._

_Within a second Tsuna was in front of him again, his fists cocked back and his mouth set in a grim line._

_The last thing Harry saw was Tsuna's startling amber eyes, with the sorrowful glint in them that seemed to say 'I'm sorry'._

* * *

Harry awoke with a gasp.

The instant he did so he wished that he hadn't awaken at all. His muscles screamed at him with disuse, sending pinpricks of pain throughout his body. Harry just lay there for a moment, twitching, forced to wait for the sensation to go away before he could take stock of his surroundings.

When the pricks finally faded Harry allowed himself to take a breath. He opened his eyes and felt around for his glasses. When he found them, he hastily shoved them on, and looked around.

Once again he was met with the stanch white of the hospital. There was one chair beside him with its back to the door and a window on the others side of the bed he was currently lying on. It didn't take him long to realize that he was in a patient's bed, and that something had to have happened to him for him to be here.

Harry bit his lip, trying to bring forth memories of what might have happened.

Mukuro had done something weird to him. His presence had suddenly felt all wrong somehow, and then Harry was… Harry was… he still wasn't sure what had happened, but he knew that _something_ had happened.

And then, there was that dream.

Before he could dwell anymore on the oddity of _that_, the door swung open. Harry instinctively looked towards the movement, but saw no one at the entrance. The door was in fact, shut again, making him wonder if he'd just imagined the whole thing.

And then, Reborn popped up on the visitor's chair next to him, nearly giving Harry a heart attack.

Harry jerked away, reflexively wanting to put as much distance between him and a possible attacker as possible, only to be stopped by his screaming muscles. Harry groaned.

"Your reflexes aren't bad," Reborn said, "but you should take more care to take stock of your body's condition. After all, you've been out for ten days."

Any retort Harry had on his mind died at those words. "Ten days?"

The baby nodded cutely. "Mukuro put you under an illusion induced coma. It lasted about ten days, though I can't be sure. That's how long you've been missing."

"What…?"

Mukuro did?

"I thought it was weird that Mukuro went after #2 before going after all the others, and he didn't take your teeth either, I checked. Care to explain that, Harry-san?"

Harry's felt confusion well up within him. What? Teeth? What did that have to do with anything?

Reborn blinked, and then hopped off the chair. He started for the door, "Oh I see. You're as clueless about this as I am. Well then, I'll leave Tsuna to explain everything to you."

Without another word, the baby wearing a mafia suit swung open the door and disappeared through it, not even giving Harry time to formulate a question.

Harry could only stare after the… person… with exasperation. No matter what everyone said, Reborn was _not_ a baby. Before he could think too deeply on what Reborn had said, or get angry at the way Reborn had talked to him rather than talk with him, Tsuna burst in, sheer relief on his face.

"Potter-san! You're okay!"

Harry blinked, dragged out of his thoughts as he instantly noticed that despite Tsuna's exclamation towards _his_ state of health, Tsuna was in fact, not okay. Tsuna was in crutches, with bandages all over his face and body.

Harry jerked up in alarm, only to wince in regret as his muscles protested. Still, Tsuna's health was more important than out-of-use muscles! "Sawada-kun! What happened to you?"

And then, it came crashing to him. The injuries on Tsuna's body were too similar to the injuries Harry had seen for it to be anything else.

Harry's eyes went as wide as plates, "You mean… it wasn't a dream?"

"Eh?"

"The stage room. You, Gokudera, Bianchi, and Reborn being there. Ken and Chikusa… not themselves, fighting you. The lava, the illusions. Me…" Harry trailed off, swallowing hard. "Me fighting you."

Now it was Tsuna's turn to stare at him wide-eyed. "EHHH? You remember that, Potter-san?"

"So it is true after all," Harry whispered, disbelieving and horrified. He couldn't believe he had done all that to Tsuna.

Tsuna had the look of a deer caught in headlights. "Eh—it, um—no!—but, er—wahhh, I'm sorry for keeping this from you, Potter-san!"

The last phrase had ended in something resembling a wail.

Harry closed his eyes, and leaned back against his pillow. "I… said all those awful things to you. I… attacked you."

The next thing Harry knew he was being shaken by the shoulders, his glasses clanging about on his face. His body instantly tensed, coiling itself for retaliation as his green eyes snapped open, fierce and angry.

"That's not true!" It was Tsuna who was doing the shaking, and Tsuna with the desperate look on his face. "That's not true at all Potter-san!"

The look in Harry's eyes relaxed. For a moment he had been brought back to the Dursley house, and he had nearly lost it. Now, he felt guilt more overpowering than even the feeling when he realized the dream was real. He had been almost about to lash at out Tsuna, even when he had done so much already.

"Sawada-kun…"

Tsuna's eyes widened at the tone, and he hastily pulled his hands back, as if Harry's shoulders had become hot coals. His mouth opened and closed, and he kept glancing at his hands as if he couldn't believe what he had just done. The brown haired boy flushed a bright red, "S—sorry, but Potter-san! That was all Mukuro's doing. None of that was your fault!"

Harry sucked in sharply. Mukuro.

"Wh—what do you mean?" Harry asked weakly, but now not even sure if he wanted the answer.

Tsuna shifted uncomfortably, and with a sigh, he plopped down on the visitor's chair.

"I… I really didn't want to tell you Potter-san," Tsuna said, his tone feeble, "but it wouldn't be very fair now if I kept it from you, right? I just really—really wanted to have a normal friend, but it was probably selfish of me to keep you in the dark about this, especially since it almost cost you… almost cost you…"

Tsuna broke off, biting his lip and shaking his head.

And then, he took a deep breath and explained everything. About the Vongola and how he was chosen as the boss. About Reborn being the number one hitman in the world and consequently, his tutor. About Gokudera being from a rival Family and Yamamoto having no idea what was going on. About the Dying Will Bullet and about how much he didn't want to be the Boss. About Kokuyo land and Mukuro…

"I see," Harry said when Tsuna was done. His head was lowered, his bangs covering his eyes.

"If you don't want to be around us anymore, I understand," Tsuna said, his voice hoarse from the long account he had given. "I wouldn't either, if it were me. The mafia is scary."

Harry looked up, a smile on his lips and laughter clear in his green eyes, "Tsuna, didn't I already say that you guys are nothing to be ashamed of? Actually, you being in the… mafia, well it clears a lot of things up."

"Re—really?"

"All of it's finally clicking in place," Harry mused, "the weird questions, the odd incidences, and why everybody was so damn good at fighting."

Tsuna gave a startled laugh. "I guess the mafia isn't very subtle, is it?"

"No, not really. And Reborn was never actually trying to hide anything, was he?

The soon to be Boss of the Vongola let out a little sigh, "No, he doesn't, but somehow nobody ever finds out that it's him behind everything."

"Well you and I know, and that counts for something, doesn't it?" Harry said, smiling at the brown haired boy.

Tsuna smiled back weakly, "I guess it does."

"Ah," Harry glanced at the clock, "look at the time. Sawada-kun, you've spent enough time here. Go back and rest; enough worrying about me, you've got to heal first."

Tsuna nodded, and with a wave goodbye, the brown haired boy limped out of the hospital room.

As soon as Tsuna was out of sight, Harry allowed the smile to drop from his face.

He felt bad for rushing Tsuna out like that, but honestly he wasn't sure how long he could keep up the normal conversation.

Mukuro…

So it was like that, huh?

He should have known that they were never really 'friends'. Actually, from the happenings of the dream, Harry wondered if even Ken and Chikusa were considered Mukuro's friends.

He felt bitterly betrayed. He knew it was a stupid thing to feel, especially since it was obvious that Mukuro had never considered him as anything other than a puppet in the first place. No, Harry had been used from the beginning, just like the time in Stonewall.

Harry felt his heart clench.

He felt stupid, incompetent. How could he have not seen it? He had always known that something was off about Mukuro, so why had he never acknowledged it? And because of his idiocy, Tsuna had paid the price.

Mukuro had never been his friend, he realized that now.

Just like Jack had never been his friend.

And yet… and yet there was still some part of him that screamed at him to still believe in the boy with the mismatched eyes, that this was all just some sort of misunderstanding. There was something that told him this wasn't like the situation with Jack at all.

Harry found himself wanting to shoot that part of him.

He shoved the thought of Mukuro from his mind. Mukuro was the enemy now, and Harry would acknowledge that. Just like his most trusted teacher had turned into someone he desperately wanted to avoid.

A little part of him wondered if it was _he_ who caused Mukuro to deflect, but he quickly stomped that part down. Tsuna had explained that Mukuro's objectives were the Vongola from the beginning, so it was impossible that Harry had anything to do with Mukuro doing all the things that he did. His common sense told him that there was no way that Harry Potter in any way influenced Rokudo Mukuro.

He didn't want to think about Mukuro anymore.

He _wouldn't_ start pitying himself. He wouldn't.

And the rest of the stuff… just what was that? Mafia? Vongola? Dying Will Bullets?

He had to have put up a brave face in front of Tsuna, but now that he was alone, he finally allowed the words to go deeper than just the surface of his mind.

It sounded… crazy. Absolutely crazy.

Harry let out a breath, and then he started shaking. Just what had he gotten himself into?

He had come to Japan to get away from it all, but this… this… he hadn't signed up for this.

It was mad, all of it! But like he had said to Tsuna, it made a lot of things make sense.

And also like he had said to Tsuna, just because this was all insane, didn't mean that Harry would abandon him.

The mafia, the greatest hitman in the world, flames of a property which had never been discussed in Chemistry class… it was all crazy, but it was all tied to Tsuna. Tsuna, who had offered him friendship. Tsuna, how had showed him that Family did exist.

Harry swallowed. The mafia? No problem, he could deal with that. He was Harry Potter after all, a survivor of Stonewall.

He hiccupped a little. Right… right… he could deal with it.

Harry nodded to himself resolutely. He had wanted to be 'in' on what Gokudera and Yamamoto evidently knew, and he had gotten his wish. He would not take it back. If Tsuna was having troubles with the mafia, Harry wanted to be there to help him.

He was not some ostrich who buried his head in the sand; he did not want to pretend that this episode never happened. He couldn't say he was happy about what he had learned, but he should be glad to learn it nonetheless.

Harry nodded, and swung his legs out of bed. Now that he had made a resolution, there was no need to stay here any longer.

He noticed that he was still in all his clothes, and not a hospital gown. He thought it was a little bit unusual, but now knowing Reborn's mafia connections, he could finally see the whys of the matter.

Harry stood up, only to pause as his legs nearly buckled from underneath him. He swayed slightly, catching himself on the corner of the bed to stop himself from falling. It was then that he heard a familiar tell-tale crinkle.

The green eyed boy blinked, and looked down at his pants pocket. There, sticking out of the edge of his front pocket was the edge of a little sheet of paper.

Harry scrabbled for the note, wondering what it was. He didn't remember sticking any piece of paper in his pants recently, but then again, his memories of the mundane things he did ten days ago were fuzzy at best.

He took out the paper and braced himself against the bed. He wasn't sure what he was doing; maybe it was the unreality of his current situation that made him want to confirm that some things were still the same, and that his grocery list or homework page still existed, but he wanted to see what was on the paper nonetheless.

Delicate fingers unfurled the sheet, which had been folded neatly with four clean strokes.

Harry sucked in a startled breath, nearly dropping the note from his fingers.

_Check your bank account. Should be enough to repair Kokuyo land. Don't worry, the money was obtained legally._

It wasn't signed, but Harry recognized the handwriting.

Mukuro.

* * *

A/n: I honestly wasn't planning on having Harry be in the Kokuyo land battle, because Kokuyo land was done so perfectly in the manga that it would have felt like I was taking away more so than adding if I put Harry in. However, it would have felt like too much of a cop-out to have Harry miss it completely, so I hope you're satisfied with the possession sequence?

Now, will there be a Varia arc? Perhaps, perhaps.


	4. III Varia pt 1

**Summary**: In a world where magic doesn't exist, a normal Harry Potter goes to Namimori in able to escape from his relatives. But then he meets the crazy baby Reborn and Sawada Tsunayoshi…

**Disclaimer**: This is not meant to be an amazing piece of work, but simply out there for those who are looking for a short reprieve from their KHR/HP addiction. You've been warned.

* * *

Act III. Varia

Part 1

* * *

"You take care of yourself now!" The nurse shouted as Harry pushed open the doors to the hospital and made to exits, finally. He turned back to give a little wave tempered with a sincere smile, but quickly slipped out before the nurse could declare him unfit to go.

Harry's injuries had been relatively light and he'd only required a few days stay for observation. However, a few days was still a few days too many for him, and he wanted to get out as fast as possible.

The green eyed boy ambled back towards his home; his muscles fit enough to walk for now. If he wanted to fight, he'd probably have to wait a few more days, but fighting had never been a prerogative.

Of course, with what he knew about Tsuna now, Harry wondered if he could avoid fighting. The skills Maine had passed onto him were useful in Stonewall, and although Harry hadn't thought that he would need them again, they would be useful in helping his new friends too.

He had vowed after all, to use everything he was able to help Tsuna.

The events of a few days ago were still placed somewhere between impossibility and madness in his mind, and yet he could not deny that they had happened. He had lived with Ken, Chikusa, and Mukuro for too long for him to deem that it was a dream.

Just two months ago he had become friends with one Sawada Tsunayoshi, and it was then that everything started happening.

Of course, Harry couldn't be happier that he had made a friend in Tsuna (and a sincere one this time, he was sure) but the amount of fights that gang got into was ridiculous. Now however, after the fight with Mukuro, a fight in which Harry himself had been used as a puppet, Harry knew everything.

And he was still thinking about what he had learned.

The nurses had heard that Tsuna and gang had gone and taken care of the Kokuyo Land gang problem, and they had been most forthcoming with their gratitude. They'd taken excellent care of Harry, so much so that he hardly had time to be by himself and reflect on the happenings of two days ago.

What the nurses didn't know was that Harry hadn't exactly been on Tsuna's side during that fight.

Harry shook his head to clear the dark thoughts. That part at least, wasn't his fault, and it would only be counterproductive of him to dwell on it. Tsuna had convinced him of that.

When he had told the brown haired boy of his misgivings, Tsuna had hurried to explain the extent of Mukuro's powers and to point out that even Gokudera hadn't been able to resist. Of course, Tsuna didn't know that Harry could have stopped Mukuro _before_ Mukuro used his unholy power on him.

Harry felt a twinge of guilt at that thought. Despite the fact that Tsuna had disclosed everything to him about the mafia, Harry still hadn't told Tsuna the reality of his home situation.

Only Mukuro knew that, and Mukuro was…

Harry fiddled with the piece of crinkled paper in his pockets.

Mukuro hadn't betrayed him. Somehow.

Harry wasn't sure whether it was because of Mukuro's background and therefore odd ways of showing affection, or whether it was just that Harry himself was too naïve, but he didn't think that Mukuro meant _harm_ when he possessed Harry.

Either way, Harry was going to have a very long talk with the leopard shirt boy when he next saw him. But for now, Harry was willing to give Mukuro the benefit of the doubt.

After all, what was the note? An apology? A way to say 'it's been fun'? Certainly, if Harry were not part of Tsuna's group of friends, Mukuro's gift would have been more than enough to make up for the abrupt leave of the Kokuyo gang.

Harry let out a wistful sigh. As much as he wished that things could have been different, what had happened, happened. He just wished he wasn't the one left to deal with the repercussions.

By the time Harry made it home, he was too tired to cook. He had just been released from the hospital after all, so it was expected. Harry went straight to bed, ignoring the torn up stairs and blown up hallways of his home. He promised himself that he would fix it later.

The next day, Harry awoke to a bright and sunny morning. Even he couldn't help but smile. He got up and went to make breakfast, pleasantly surprised to see that his 'living room' was completely untouched from the fighting.

The place felt strangely empty without Ken and Chikusa waiting at the table, and Harry knew that no matter how hard he pretended, Mukuro would not come gliding in after breakfast.

He felt like laughing at himself for his stupidity. It had only been a month of living with others, and yet he had already let himself become so used to it that he was feeling loneliness now? From the start Harry had known that Mukuro and gang wouldn't stay, so why did he still have this feeling?

The good mood was deteriorating, leaving only a touch of sadness mixed with loneliness behind. Harry knew it was stupid, and it probably wasn't what anyone wanted, but he had never been very good at controlling his emotions.

By the time he finished breakfast he did feel a little better, the food in his stomach somehow making the world look better than it did when his stomach was empty. He was even able to hum a little while cleaning up. And then, when he went to take out the trash, his eyes finally landed on the clock.

_8:15_

Harry's eyes widened.

He was going to be late!

Not by a large amount, but late was late. His watch had been broken in the fight and Harry hadn't been able to use it. However, he hadn't thought he would need it for this morning because his internal clock had always ensured that he awoke at the right time. He must have been more tired than he thought to have been this late.

Either that, or he had miscalculated the cleaning time because it had been so long since he had done it all by himself.

Quickly grabbing his schoolbag, Harry rushed out of Kokuyo. He pushed his personal grievances aside for the sake of concentrating on his flight. He wasn't just a normal kid after all; he was in Namimori on a full scholarship, and if he did anything bad, he might not be able to get in to the highschool.

Watcher-bys whipped their heads around as they watched a small boy pelt down the streets at a speed that was hardly imaginable. He ignored them; he had gotten good at ignoring odd stares and hushed murmurs.

Unbidden, the whispers of the past came to his mind, overriding the present mutterings.

"_Is that the kid who…?"_

"_Why hasn't he been kicked out yet? Did you see what he did to his best friend? Dirty traitor."_

"_No, you don't want to get to know that freak. Didn't you hear…?"_

Finally Harry arrived at Namimori, skidding to a halt just outside the gates. Despite his mind screaming at him to continue, he couldn't. He bent over, resting his hands on his knees and panting hard. Even he could not run that far that fast without feeling the consequences.

Harry took a few deep breaths before he finally righted himself. His muscles twitched in anger and burned with pain, even making the normally pain-tolerant Harry Potter wince. He probably shouldn't have exerted himself so much after staying in bed for twelve days.

He straightened his backpack and hurried into the school, hoping against all hope that no one had noticed him. He contemplated skipping the first class as to not make a disturbance, but decided that having an absence would be more of a black mark against him than being late. So, Harry walked to class 3-A, and only hesitated minutely before knocking on the door.

The sound of the teacher's droning voice stopped, and footsteps followed soon after. A moment later the door was opened to reveal Mr. Sato, who for some reason didn't look all that surprised to see Harry there.

Harry didn't bother taking note of it. He immediately bowed, as per Japanese custom, and profusely apologized, "I'm deeply sorry that I am late for your class, sir."

A flicker of surprise flashed across Mr. Sato's face, and then he let out a chuckle, a deep and reassuring vibration. He stepped back, and gestured to the seats, "Not a problem Potter-san. I heard what you did for this school. Come in, come in, we haven't even gotten started yet."

Harry almost gaped at him, but managed to keep his composure at the last second. He nodded, and scurried over to his usual seat.

Mr. Sato started the lesson again, but Harry's mind wasn't on the teacher or the lesson. He couldn't help but wonder what that exchange had been all about. Oh sure there was some gratitude from the nurses, but even the normally strict Professor Sato?

Plus, how had Mr. Sato known about Harry's involvement anyway?

Harry shook his head, attributing that particular mystery to Namimori itself. After all, it was a small town not unlike Surrey, and word got around fast, even if the facts might be completely wrong.

Still, it was unusual for Mr. Sato to outright compliment anyone like that.

Harry couldn't help but look around discreetly, wondering if Mr. Sato's compliment had made Harry out to be a target. While Harry normally wasn't bothered in school, he didn't want to jinx it by presenting himself out to be the nerd. No one knew he was a scholarship student (sans Hibari) and in that he way he had managed to avoid the bullies. Now it might not be the case any longer.

Surprisingly nobody looked at him as if he were a fish waiting to be fried. Instead, if anyone did glance his way, it was equally as discreet and almost admiring. Actually, the only looks he got that were remotely scary came from the girls, though he could not for the life of him think of how he could have offended them.

Shaken by the unusual stares, Harry quickly turned his attention back to Mr. Sato's lesson. He wasn't sure if he liked this new type of attention. While it did feel infinitely better than the type of attention he used to get, he didn't understand this new one, and that made him uneasy.

Finally lunch rolled around, and after lunch, came Sasagawa.

"Potter-san!" The ever energetic third year boomed, bursting into the period after lunch. He seated himself down beside Harry, grinning broadly. "I heard what you did. It was EXTREMELY cool."

He beamed, showing off his missing teeth.

The teacher flickered a glance over in their direction but did not say anything, and neither did the students. No one really dared to speak commandingly to the boxing team captain, and those who did never got past the first three sentences of trying to explain something to the guy with the lowest grade before they just gave up and left.

Harry winced, "Sasagawa-san, I am so sorry."

He wasn't normally an apologetic person, but this time the blame was also his to share. It was only right that his fellow third year would receive some of his respect in that regard. Besides that, Harry genuinely felt bad for what Mukuro had done. Seriously, why teeth of all things?

Sasagawa however, only looked confused, "Eh? Why are you sorry? I heard that you helped Sawada and the others with the guy who was beating up our Namimori students."

Harry couldn't help but stare in shock. He had thought that someone would explain to Sasagawa what had really happened with Harry, but then again, when he thought about it, nobody would have any reason to. It would be presumed that Harry himself could do the explaining on that part.

Harry coughed into his hand, "Um…"

While he wouldn't have minded telling Sasagawa everything, he was very aware of the nearby students leaning in with interest clear in their faces. Harry didn't exactly want to disclose anything that would bring him to the center of the school's attention.

Sasagawa, thankfully, didn't really seem to have the attention span to keep pressing Harry. He quickly got to the real reason why he had seated himself beside the green eyed boy. He leaned forward, and clasped Harry's hands in his own, eyes shining. "Potter-san! Join the boxing club!"

* * *

The next few weeks flew by. There were some differences to everyday life, but it was all manageable.

Harry had managed to get used to living by himself again relatively quickly, although he did have a few pangs of loneliness every now and then. Sometimes he would turn at the smallest of noises, expecting one of the Kokuyo trio would come in with some sort of absurd excuse about why they couldn't do the chores that day.

Habit won in the end however, and those instances were getting fewer and fewer. Somehow Harry felt a little sad about that, as if he really were forgetting Mukuro and the others, but those were just tiny pockets of sadness and he knew better than to dwell on them. It was better to focus on the happy memories.

The class quickly forgot why Harry was special when the victims of Mukuro came back from the hospital. As it always was with school, new rumours replaced the old ones, and objects of interests changed. It was the same with the case of when Harry had first come to Namimori. The mutterings of 'foreigner' had died out relatively quickly, just as 'savior' did now.

There were still some giggles of 'cute' and 'soo cool' from passing girls that made his ears go red, but he couldn't say that some part of him didn't enjoy that. He did get confessed to a couple of times, which was as embarrassing as heck, but thankfully he found out that a reply wasn't really necessary as a way of declining.

Sasagawa made it a point of inviting Harry into the boxing club every day. While he had been persistent before, he was relentless now that he had found out that Harry had been noted as a better fighter than even him.

It might have been annoying, except that there was a sort of innocence to Sasagawa that made the invitations almost cute. It was also a nice break from the normally monotonous day, and Harry was usually able to have a quick conversation with Sasagawa after the explosive invitations.

The zoo hadn't been pleased with Harry missing nearly two weeks worth of work, and Harry had almost lost his job. Thankfully Harry wasn't really replaceable at the moment, and they allowed him to continue his work. Ihara had joked that the director was scared that Harry would get his gang to pillage the director's house if Harry was fired. Harry hadn't found that very funny.

Hibari came back, stricter than ever. Harry heard from Tsuna that Hibari had lost against Mukuro, and that made him bitter. If there was one person that Harry couldn't feel bad for about the whole mess, it was Kouya Hibari. Initially Harry had set himself out to apologize, but when he had arrived at Hibari's office only to see the other third year beating up one of his still healing subordinates, Harry couldn't' find it within himself to be very sympathetic.

Tsuna had tried to explain that Hibari wasn't all that bad, but Harry thought that it was probably more of a Tsuna thing than a Hibari thing.

Life went back to normal.

Until the next crisis, that is.

It happened a few weeks later, after the last baseball game of the season. Yamamoto had scored an unbelievable hit, despite his recent injuries. It started out as a Sunday like all other, with Harry making himself pancakes to cheer himself up about the coming exams.

Just as Harry finished breakfast, his phone rang.

Harry fumbled in his pockets, and quickly got out his cell phone. A landline would have been cheaper, but it was impossible to get one in Kokuyo Land. "Hello?"

"Yo, Potter-san."

It was Yamamoto.

Harry's voice sharpened. He didn't mean to, but Yamamoto never called him. It was usually Tsuna, if the second years called at all. He automatically assumed that this meant that something had happened to the brown haired boy. "What is it?"

"Oh," Yamamoto sounded surprised, "you already know that I want something? Hehe, sorry Potter-san, but I have a favour to ask. I know it's a lot to ask for, but can you skip school today? Tsuna's feeling a little down, and Gokudera thought we should go out to cheer him up. I know you're not someone who cuts class, but it's just for today, so please?"

Harry blinked. For some reason, of all things he had expected, it wasn't that. He hesitated for a moment, because he had missed an awful lot of school and he was only a scholarship student, but no matter how he said it in his head, that excuse sounded lame.

Tsuna had helped him a lot, and although this wasn't exactly a mafia-battle like Harry had been expecting, did that mean Harry could put Tsuna off? He of all people knew that sometimes, emotional scars cut more deeply than physical ones.

"Sure," Harry said softly, "I'll be there."

Yamamoto gave him the instructions, and Harry hung up the phone. Apparently they were to meet in Namimori Square in forty-five minutes. Calculating the amount of time it would take for Harry to clean up and get to the Square, it was almost exactly how long he would need. Harry wondered briefly if Yamamoto had intended it to be that way.

Then again, forty-five minutes was a pretty standard preparatory time for scheduling last minute meetings.

Harry cleaned up, not quite able to help the slight pang of longing at the silence during his chores. It was getting better now, though in reality Harry thought that it should not have hurt at all, but now he could get by with hardly thinking of Mukuro's gang.

Twenty minutes later Harry put on his shoes and headed towards Namimori Square. By the time he arrived, everybody was already there. Harry couldn't help but smile fondly when they spotted him. Despite their craziness, and, apparently, connections to the mafia, they were the first true friends that Harry ever had.

"Potter-san!" Tsuna greeted with a relieved smile, no doubt happy to have someone who understood his situation with him. Tsuna had explained the group dynamics regarding the mafia, like how Yamamoto thought it was a game, and the girls didn't know, and Harry still found it mind boggling.

"Harry nii-san!" Lambo crowed in delight, jumping up to Harry's head and rubbing his cheek against Harry's affectionately. Harry laughed and tussled the cow print baby's hair; Lambo seemed to like Harry a lot, and Harry thought that it was maybe because of the fact that he was the only one who treated Lambo the way the child wanted him to.

"Hn. Potter. Nice to see you, I guess."

"Good to see that you made it, Potter-kun."

"Harry-san! You came too!"

They talked about non-consequential things as they got on their way, simply enjoying the day for themselves. Harry had been chatting with Haru when he suddenly noticed that Tsuna had begun lagging behind, trying vainly to stop Lambo from defiling the underwear stores.

"Uh—uh, I'll be there soon!" Tsuna was saying to Yamamoto, having finally gotten a hold of Lambo again after apologizing profusely to the store owner.

Yamamoto nodded cheerily, pointing in some direction up ahead, "Alright then. We'll be right over there."

Harry frowned as Yamamoto moved on, leaving a still Tsuna and Lambo behind. Quickly, Harry excused himself from his conversation with Haru, and headed back to where the brown haired boy was.

Tsuna, who had let out a dejected sigh after Yamamoto had gone on, startled in surprise to see Harry appear before him.

"Potter-san…?" The brown haired boy said questioningly, confusing evident in his large brown eyes.

"Shall I stay with you for a while?" Harry said with an inviting grin, just as Lambo struggled out of Tsuna's grip and jumped into Harry's arms with a cry of 'Harry nii-san!'.

Tsuna flushed, his gaze falling as he shuffled his feet, "I don't… um, I mean, you don't have to. I'll catch up quick. I just promised Lambo that I'd buy him a drink."

At this, Lambo seemed to have remembered what he was staying behind for. He hopped off Harry's, pointing imperiously at Tsuna, "Yeah! You promised! Now, go and buy the great Lambo-sama his drink, you stinky servant!"

Harry frowned at the language. Crouching down, he tapped Lambo's shoulder and got the cow print baby's attention, "Lambo, don't call Tsuna stinky. He isn't, and he's not your servant either. He's being very nice to you by doing the things you want. You should say 'thank you' instead."

Lambo visibly deflated, and gave a reluctant nod. He turned back to Tsuna, a slightly disgruntled look on his face, but he nevertheless apologized, "Sorry Dame-Tsuna. And…thank you."

Harry just let out a sigh. It wasn't quite what he wanted, but Lambo was getting there.

Probably not wanting to get dragged into more apologies, Lambo quickly ran away, stopping at a small table with four chairs and hopping on one of them. Sitting atop the chair, he gestured for Harry to join him, which the green eyed boy did with a roll of his eyes. Tsuna let out something that sounded halfway between a laugh and a sigh, and went to get the drink for Lambo.

Lambo ended up reciting countless tales of his bravery while Harry listened on dutifully, until Tsuna came back with Lambo's can. And then, the cow print baby was too busy drinking to say much of anything.

Tsuna took an open seat with a sigh, but when Harry gave him a concerned look, the brown haired boy only smiled, "You're so good with children, Potter-san."

Harry startled, not having expected that, "I am?"

He never did anything that was particularly parent-like with kids. He did not know how to treat children to be honest, so he treated them like he would a particularly spoiled friend. Harry didn't think that this constituted as 'being good with children'.

"Yeah," Tsuna nodded, looking back towards the cow print baby, "Lambo never really listens to anyone, but he listens to you."

Harry hummed in response to that, not knowing how else to reply. Honestly he thought it was because of random chance—his personality just suited Lambo's or something—but there wasn't much to say regarding that.

"Maybe he thinks I'm scary," Harry mused, although that would be a thought, because Lambo was the ones throwing around grenades all the time. Harry remembered the first time that he had discovered that the cow print baby was throwing around _real_ explosives. He had nearly had a heart attack.

Tsuna laughed at that. And then, the brown haired boy shook his head, his laughter dissolving into a small but sincere smile, "Thank you for staying, Potter-san."

"Why wouldn't I?" Harry asked, half to Tsuna, half to himself. He wondered for a moment if he should press the issue. While he was not half as close to Tsuna as Yamamoto or Gokudera, they were the ones who had left the boy behind when the whole day was supposed to be dedicated to cheering Tsuna up.

Harry felt a frown make its way across his lips at the thought, and couldn't help the flash of anger that ignited within him. What was up with the rest of the gang anyway? Harry knew that they meant well, but how could they just leave Tsuna like that?

Turning thoughtful green eyes on the brown haired boy, Harry couldn't help but wonder. While it was true that it would be invasive, perhaps Tsuna needed someone to ask what was wrong. Harry would have left the task to Yamamoto or Gokudera regularly, but after today's events, he wasn't sure if he could trust them with it.

"Tsuna," Harry said softly, "what's the matter?"

"Ah?" Startled brown eyes turned to him, "Wh—what do you mean, Potter-san?"

Harry pursed his lips, wondering if he should tell Tsuna that the whole outing today was just created as a way to cheer him up. And then, he decided against it. It would make Tsuna blame himself, and it wouldn't sound true anyway, what with the way that Yamamoto and Gokudera were acting.

The raven haired boy was especially incensed with Gokudera, who always bragged about how he would be there for the 'Tenth', and yet, where was he now?

"Something's obviously bothering you," Harry said instead, folding his arms on top of the table. "I can er—tell."

He couldn't really, but Tsuna didn't need to know that.

Tsuna looked away, seemingly putting his attentions on Lambo. But Harry knew better. Having done much the same thing himself numerous times, he recognized a diversion tactic when he saw one.

"Well, it's…" Tsuna hesitated, fiddling with the edge of his sleeve. There was a slight frown on his face, as if he didn't know what to do.

Harry frowned. While he did want Tsuna to talk about what was bothering him, he didn't want to do it at the cost of comfort. The only reason he had brought up the topic in the first place was because he thought it might make the brown haired boy feel better.

The third year let out a breath, wondering if he had miscalculated, "Sawada-kun, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Brown eyes turned wide, and Tsuna's face snapped back to meet his. He shook his head furiously, as if trying to deny the very statement, "It's not that, Potter-san! It's not that I don't want you to know or anything. I think, I think that you're a person who could understand, probably. The thing is, I complained about my problems this morning thoughtlessly, and then Gokudera tried to cheer me up by telling me about his family…"

The brown haired boy trailed off, and bit his lip. Lambo gave a sharp tug on his hand, which Tsuna returned with a weak smile.

"Well," Tsuna finally said, "Gokudera's family situation is awful, much more than mine. I brought up bad memories for him, and I had the nerve to complain! I feel like such an idiot for being so down."

Harry opened his mouth to reply, and then closed it again when he found that he did not know what to say. Truthfully, Tsuna's response was the last one that he had expected. Harry had never been very good at this comforting stuff, having never really seen much of it himself. Still, he knew that Tsuna needed something, and even if Harry was awful at this, he was better than nothing.

"I have no idea what's going on with Gokudera," the green eyed boy said softly, "but I do know that your situation's bothering you whether you want it to or not. Circumstances… cannot be compared. There's no 'better' or 'worse' between what happened to a certain person. Outsiders will never know your pain."

It was Harry's turn to trail off. His own advice was starting to sound awfully familiar, and Harry wasn't quite sure how he felt about that.

He coughed, trying to clear both his throat and his mind, "Anyway Tsuna, the point is, whatever's happening right now is bothering you, not Gokudera. As long as you acknowledge that your situation probably isn't the worst one in the world, what's the harm in getting some comfort?"

He was hypocritical, so, so, hypocritical. But he also knew that unlike himself, Tsuna was one who needed support. Harry could handle himself because that was all he had ever done, but one night with Tsuna's family told him that such was not the case with his brown eyed… friend.

Tsuna looked confused by the whole explanation, but Harry supposed that he hadn't explained it very well. He opened his mouth to try again, but it was then that the sky exploded.

Something crashed into the building next to them, sending up a plume of smoke and debris. Tsuna gave a shout of confusion, and it was just then that Harry noticed something in the smoke _shift_.

Green eyes widened when he realized the trajectory. He had no time to shout, no time to give warning. Using a vice-like grip, Harry grabbed Lambo with one hand and hopped over the table, shoving the cow print baby into Tsuna's arms before giving the two a mighty _push_.

Tsuna cried out in surprise and stumbled out of the way, and just in time too. A heavy body came flying out of the cloud of smoke, slamming into Harry's back and sending him skidding across the ground. The plastic table shattered, sending up splinters into the air.

"Potter-san!"

Harry coughed, pushing himself up amidst the pieces of broken furniture. The thing above him groaned, and it was then that Harry realized he had caught a person.

"I—I am sorry," the person said, hurriedly getting himself off of Harry. Harry gasped. Atop his head of brown hair was a flickering flame, like the one Harry had seen in his dreams but had assumed to be another illusion of Mukuro's. "I—I didn't meant to—"

And then Tsuna had run over, Lambo in his arms and worry all splashed over his features.

Harry had a million questions, but he couldn't oblige just yet. He raised an arm, halting Tsuna's rush, and narrowed his eyes towards the place where the boy had come flying out of. Harry's hand moved towards the place where he had placed his chain, his next question directed at the flying boy, "It's not over yet, is it?"

Blue eyes widened in surprise, but before the boy could say anything, Gokudera and Yamamoto ran in.

"Tenth!"

"Are you alright, Potter-san?"

Harry glared at the two. Where were they when Tsuna was being attacked? He opened his mouth to say something, but somebody beat him to it.

"Heeeey!" A loud, unfamiliar voice called down from somewhere on the rooftops. Everybody's head whipped around, trying to identify the source.

Standing confidently with one leg resting higher than the other was a man with long blond hair. He looked like a man out of the movies, decked in leather and standing above them all with one leg resting above the other. Wisps of smoke still clung to his figure despite the fact that it had mostly cleared by now, giving them a clear view of the man. He was exactly where the boy had come flying out of, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that it was he who was the perpetrator, especially with the sword he had casually slung over his shoulders.

"What's this?" The man asked with a gleeful but vicious tone in his voice that Harry recognized all too well from Stonewall, "Outsiders parading around? I'll slice up any trash that gets in my way!"

The brown haired boy with the flame on his head gasped, and hurriedly pushed himself to a standing position.

"Thank you for your help! I'll try my best not to get you guys involved!" He said hastily, and raced for the exit.

The man on the rafters sneered, and launched himself into the air. The boy hadn't made it five steps before the blond man smashed into the ground in front of him, sending up pieces of loose brick with the force that he landed with.

"Let's quit this game of tag," the blond man sneered, licking his lips as he straightened.

The boy took a step back, fear etched clearly on his face. Laughing wickedly, the blond man raised his sword high above his head and slashed downwards… only for his sword to be stopped by a silver chain wrapped around the blade.

Surprise flashed across the blond man's face, and he turned to see a grim faced Harry holding onto the other end of the chain.

"Stop it," Harry said, although inwardly he was freaking out about what he was doing. Whoever the blond was, he was obviously involved in the mafia that Tsuna told him about, and the last thing Harry wanted to do was to anger someone in there.

However, he couldn't just stand by and watch someone being killed, even if he didn't know the exact circumstances surrounding the situation. He prayed that the blond man was reasonable, and that talk this out instead of fight.

The blond haired man only narrowed his eyes, but thankfully seemed to take his attention off the brown haired boy. He walked towards Harry, making the green eyed boy tense. Long, spidery fingers caressed the silver chain, and then, quite suddenly, the blond man gave a tug. Harry, caught unawares, stumbled forwards, and the blond used that moment of distraction to get close to him, grabbing onto his collar and bringing their faces close.

Harry tensed. While he did have some experience in close range fighting, he had a feeling that this man had more.

The blond man licked his lips, a feral smile that promised pain blossoming across his face, "That was Maine's technique. How did you come by it?"

Harry felt his heart give a shudder of shock. Of all the places that he had expected to hear his teacher's name, this was not it. Nevertheless, he could not give the blond an answer, not when he had so little clue of what was going on. "Oh I don't know. He taught me?"

Grey eyes narrowed, searching Harry's face carefully. It was enough to make Harry shift uncomfortably.

"What did you say your name was?" The man asked slowly.

"I didn't," Harry replied stubbornly, though he knew that this was probably a bad idea, since he was at the man's mercy. Still, he had never been be intimidated, and he was not about to turn into one now.

The tactic seemed to have worked, because a look of fury crossed the blond man's face. He lifted Harry up by the collar as if he weighed as much as Lambo, and threw the boy into a nearby building.

Harry hit the wall with a sickening _crack_. His back exploded in pain, and Harry slid to the floor, coughing. Debris slid down with him, with some bricks having come loose from the sheer force of the throw. Harry quivered, his body feeling as if someone had dumped hot coals on him for a joke that didn't turn out very funny. He blearily wondered if he was going to end up at the hospital again. It did seem like a common occurrence around Tsuna.

A hand rose to his throat, rubbing it tenderly as Harry weakly pushed himself up, glaring at the blond man. He stood on shaky legs, wrapping his chain more tightly around his fist.

The blond man raised a brow, "What, you're still going to fight?"

"You're increased the distance between us."

Something flashed across the blond man's eyes, but then he sneered and the expression was gone, "You're not going to tell me that you calculated that."

Harry smiled grimly, "Of course not, but I'm very good at grasping opportunities."

At the last word, Harry stuck. He flipped his chain, removing it from the blade and sending it cracking down on the blond man. The blond man 'tch'ed and raised his sword, blocking the attack before he leapt towards Harry.

Unfortunately for him, Harry had been waiting for that. Giving his chain a twirl, Harry sprung from the ground, flying well over the man's head as the blond man landed in the place where Harry had been just seconds before. His trap sprung, Harry's chain wrapped tightly around the man's body, keeping him in place.

The man's body went still, and Harry landed a few meters away, holding on firmly to the other end of the leash.

"My name is Harry Potter," Harry said coolly, tightening his grip on his chain, "and you'd better remember that."

That seemed to get a reaction.

"Potter?" The blond man repeated in surprise, and then looked at Harry one last time, and then snorted, and then went into full blown laughter, "Potter, seriously? And you look the part too! HAHAHA, Dumbledore's more of a bastard than I thought."

"What…?"

"It's nothing," the man said in amusement, "if you don't know, then you're not of interest. Have a sweet dream, _little kid_."

Before Harry really knew what was happening, the man had pulled the green eyed boy to him, using Harry's chain to trap him rather than aid him. Worse was, the man didn't give Harry any chance to react. Before Harry could even think of a counter the man had already grabbed his arm, spinning him around just in time for Harry to see Tsuna come flying towards them, fist raised in attack.

The brown haired boy's eyes widened when he saw the position Harry was in, and Tsuna quickly twisted to avoid injuring his friend. The man didn't give them enough time. He jerked Harry forward, using a powerful kick to propel Harry into the Vongola heir and send them both tumbling to the ground.

"Owww," Tsuna moaned, the flame that Harry could have sworn having flickered on his head disappearing as if it were never there. Harry himself was in a world of pain. The kick had been in a sensitive part, and it was taking him longer than usual to recollect himself. He just lay there with Tsuna, gasping painfully.

"Tch, you guys are weak," the man said scornfully as he walked towards them. Harry could hear the click click of his boots.

Harry groaned, and tried to forcibly tell his body not to give up on him. He wasn't sure how well he was succeeding, but he knew that if he didn't get up, they were done for. Although intellectually he knew that Tsuna could take care of himself, there was just some sort of look in his eyes or something that said he needed protecting. Harry wasn't sure what it was, but he'd be damned if he'd let another one of his friends be hurt.

And then, quite suddenly, the world exploded in smoke and the smell of gunfire.

"Lay a hand on that person," came Gokudera's familiar voice, "and I won't let you go free."

"Yeah, something like that," it was Yamamoto this time, "I'll be your opponent."

Harry felt his heart skip a beat.

They weren't safe, he knew, but at least the two had bought him some time. Harry might have been pissed at Gokudera and Yamamoto, but he did have to admit that the two came through when it really counted.

Unfortunately, the mystery man's strength wasn't something that the two could defeat even while working together. Harry had felt that personally.

While the trio exchanged banter, Harry recollected himself. He pushed himself off Tsuna, somehow untangling their limbs. Tsuna was only in his boxers, as he always was when he got into a fight, but Harry had seen it enough time for it not to be awkward anymore.

"Sorry," Harry gasped out, because all in all, it had been his fault in getting caught. He had even become a hindrance to Tsuna's fighting.

"It—It's alright, Potter-san. I just wanted to save you anyway," Tsuna said with a blush, hurriedly scrambling to his feet. Harry noticed that somewhere down the line, Tsuna had put on two woolen mittens, and couldn't help but register that as odd. Before he could really think about it however, Yamamoto went crashing into the river, taking the blond man's opponents down to two.

Harry tensed, ready to spring back into the fight despite the fact that he hated such a thing, before he noticed that he was missing something vitally important.

Somewhere down the line his chain had become lost, and Harry had not paid attention to when it was. It was nowhere near him now, so Harry could only assume that the blond man had gained control of it away sometime before he sent Harry crashing into Tsuna.

Harry felt his blood run cold. Without his weapon, he was virtually helpless against the man. While Harry was confident he could have taken any normal person without his chain, that blond man was _not_ normal. He hadn't really had a chance before, so he didn't have a glimpse of a chance now.

The next events passed in a whirlwind. Gokudera was beaten too and the brown haired boy had come back, seeming to realize something as he headed towards Tsuna. The blond man has explained something about Vongola rings, and then a man named Dino whom Tsuna apparently knew showed up and saved them.

All in all, the events happened without Harry influencing them one way or another.

And Harry hated that.

* * *

Harry had never felt so weak. He had been weak before Stonewall, and he had suffered the consequences. He had thought he had gotten over that when he met Maine, who fixed his physical problems at least.

How wrong he was.

Or perhaps, not so.

If Harry had stayed a normal person, certainly his techniques would have been more than enough to protect himself. However, he hadn't stayed normal. He'd been drawn into a scary world by none other than the heir of the biggest mafia Family himself, and Harry couldn't bring himself to regret a second of it.

Except for the fact that he was probably dragging Tsuna down with his weakness.

With clenched teeth Harry wrung his towel as hard as he could, watching without seeing the water gush out. He was currently cleaning his dishes, and he had nearly broken a plate with the force he had applied the sponge.

"Ciaossu."

Harry whirled around, dish towel in hand as he prepared to fight off the intruder. The fact that he hadn't sensed anyone sneaking up on him spoke volumes.

He relaxed when he saw the familiar figure of a small sized toddler in clothing that was much too mature for him. The interloper was sitting carelessly on Harry's window sill, as if he had all rights to be there. His little chubby legs swung languidly beneath him, an air of nonchalance surrounding his very being.

Reborn cocked his head, "Your reflexes are as good as ever, Harry-kun."

"You know where I live," Harry observed in return.

Something that might have been a smile flickered across Reborn's face, "I thought you might be curious about the events that happened earlier today."

As indifferently as possible, Harry dried his hands and set the dish towel back on the counter. He had a feeling that this was not a conversation that would be ending soon.

He had not received any information about what had actually happened during the market square ruckus, but he had decided not to think too much about it because it so obviously involved the mafia that Tsuna told him about.

When the brown haired boy had been taken to the hospital, Harry as well as Yamamoto and Gokudera had been sent home. None of them were aware of the mechanisms surrounding the incident earlier that day. Harry had no doubts that the two would be briefed at a later time.

There was a part of him that did not want to know, and there was a part of him that desperately did. He wanted to know if that man from earlier was a threat.

However.

"I wasn't aware we were on such good terms with each other," Harry said politely. Despite his tone, his words were quite rude. Normally he wouldn't have been so hostile, but something about Reborn set him off on edge.

The not-baby knew too much and was never willing to share. While Harry might have understood that trait, it did not mean that he was not wary of it. Reborn was the same type as Mukuro, after all.

"Aw Harry-kun, I'm hurt," Reborn said mockingly in reply.

And then, Reborn explained everything about the Varia.

"An assassin," Harry deadpanned when Reborn was done, and then rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You're saying that guy from earlier was an assassin. Aren't assassins supposed to be… I dunno, subtle?"

Possession. Specialty bullets. Magical babies and flamboyant hitmen. Harry had to kiss everything that he had learned from the rented DVD he had gotten of _The Godfather_ goodbye.

"Okay, I have one more question," Harry said tiredly, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand, "Those flame things that the boy had today—what were they? Tsuna had them too."

A flicker of surprise passed through Reborn's eyes, "You can see those flames? Hm… how interesting."

Harry sighed, "From your reaction, I'm guessing that not everybody can?"

He had expected something like that from the get-go. Although the things involving Tsuna were obviously weird, random flames erupting from people's heads was something that was bound to get noticed even so. The fact that nobody talked about it spoke volumes.

Reborn shook his head, "No, what you saw are Dying Will Flames, which cannot be seen by anyone who does not possess it themselves. At the moment, only Tsuna, Basil—that is the boy from earlier— and I should be able to see them."

"Dying Will Flames?" Harry repeated wearily. He had a feeling that he was treading upon something that he maybe should not be.

"It is something you will learn about eventually," Reborn said dismissively, "because you see, I am sure you will develop the abilities. I am just concerned that they seemed to have manifested _now_."

"Well how did Tsuna come across them?"

"I shot him with a bullet."

"_What?"_

"A Dying Will Bullet. It doesn't kill him. Remember the first night when Tsuna went to save you from the ambush by the local Yakuza?" There was a sneer in Reborn's words as he said 'Yakuza', which just showed how much (or little) he really thought of them. "He was in Dying Will Mode then."

Harry's lips pursed in thought. He hadn't seen any flames on Tsuna's forehead at that time. Actually, there had only been two incidents that he noticed the so called Dying Will Flames, which was during the battle today and Mukuro's—

"Mukuro's possession," Harry breathed. It still hurt him to say it, but the words came out so naturally it was a wonder that it was Harry saying them at all. The pieces just clicked together in his mind, and he simply had to say it all. "Reborn, Mukuro definitely possessed Dying Will Flames, didn't he?"

Reborn blinked, and then he smiled, "You are very quick on the uptake, Harry-kun. Yes, that is certainly possible. Mukuro could have left something accidently or opened something that will not close again when he used his Dying Will Flames on you. The fact that you can see the true form of things could simply be a byproduct of your possession."

That was one question answered, at least. The topic of Mukuro however, brought up another question.

Harry hesitated, "Are you- I mean, from what Tsuna said, Mukuro was experimented on as a child, thus he had the power of the Six Paths. I just can't help but think… I mean, you don't have to answer but— Reborn, were you always a baby?"

Reborn was silent for a moment, and then— "Not bad, Harry-kun. I was always worried about you the most. Mukuro and Hibari have probably sensed that something's not quite right with the Acrobaleno as well, but they're unlikely to talk to others about it. It could be problematic if the other Guardians find out about this too soon."

Harry tensed, "So, what are you going to do?"

Reborn jumped off the window sill, his black fedora obstructing his eyes, "What would you have me do, Harry-kun?"

Harry took a step back, his hand going to the silver metal wrapped around his waist.

Reborn raised one pudgy finger and tilted his hat back up, looking at Harry with a faint frown on his face. There was something in his eyes that Harry had not seen before—an almost tired expression. "I just want the best for Tsuna, Harry-kun. There are some secrets surrounding the Acrobaleno, but I can't tell you what they are _yet_. Will you trust me on this?"

"I never said I did not trust you," Harry said softly. That much was true. While Harry was certain that Reborn had his own agenda, he was also certain that the number one hitman was trying to do his best for Tsuna.

Whether or not what Reborn thought was best was _actually_ best, Harry did not know, but either way Harry did not have enough power at the moment to change things in one direction or the other.

"Good," was all Reborn said in reply, and then he reached over and grabbed Harry's hand. A moment later, and something was glittering in the dark haired boy's palm.

A frown flickered across Harry's face as he opened his fingers and looked at the object. It was a ring of some sort, but Harry had a feeling that Reborn wasn't just gifting him with mere jewellery. "What is this?"

"That is your symbol as the Lightning Guardian," Reborn said. "You are already aware of the Vongola because Tsuna has informed you, correct? Well, each Vongola leader has six guardians: storm, rain, sun, mist, cloud, and lightning. These guardians protect the boss of the Vongola, who is Tsuna at this time. To be honest I wanted to wait a bit before handing these rings out, but events have started to move without us. You saw that earlier today."

"So things have begun happening, and Tsuna's at the center of it?" Harry asked slowly.

"Essentially, yes." Reborn replied blandly.

Harry clenched his fist, and held the ring back out for Reborn to take, "I can't do it. I'm not strong enough to be Tsuna's guardian."

Reborn blinked, not even looking at the hand, "Well, you're not planning to stay that way, are you?"

"How do you propose I do that?" Harry asked bitterly, "My teacher and I have severed our bonds, so there's nobody else I could learn from."

"You'll be getting a home-tutor," Reborn said as if this explained everything in the world.

Harry just stared at the not-baby, for a moment wondering if the fedora wearing mystery had lost his mind. And then he reminded himself that this was apparently the strongest hitman in the world, and one didn't become that way by being crazy. Or at least, not crazy intelligent.

He thought carefully about what a 'home-tutor' might mean in context with what they were discussing.

"You mean you'll find somebody else to teach me?" Harry asked slowly.

Reborn nodded, "That's exactly it. Hm, I knew I was right about you. This intuition is fit for a lightning guardian. _As quick as Lightning, strike through the lies and deceit and get to the truth, to take out the enemy before they even become a threat. _Well, it's true that it was The Second's family motto, but it still applies."

"Right," Harry said sceptically. He only had a faint idea what Reborn was talking about, and he didn't really feel like digging further.

"There aren't many people that I can trust with Tsuna, of that you should know too. The other chosen guardians include Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi, and Sasagawa Ryohei, none of which are stronger than you. If the others can improve to a point where they are suitable to be a worthy guardian, then I am certain that you can too. You have a strong will."

"Will a strong will be enough?" Harry asked wryly.

"It is your choice," Reborn said, hopped through the window, and disappeared from sight.

Harry just stared after the not-quite-baby for a while, his mind still abuzz with the things that he had learned and the doubts he had about himself. And then, he let out a laugh, turning away from the window and shaking his head.

"Tch, what choice?" He murmured to himself, his fingers wrapping tightly around the Vongola ring, "Alright Reborn, I'll do it. I'll become Tsuna's Lightning Guardian."

* * *

A/n: I er, posted this chapter ahead of schedule because it wrapped up quite nicely, so don't expect Part 2 for a long, long time.


	5. III Varia pt 2

**Summary**: In a world where magic doesn't exist, a normal Harry Potter goes to Namimori in able to escape from his relatives. But then he meets the crazy baby Reborn and Sawada Tsunayoshi…

**Disclaimer**: This is not meant to be an amazing piece of work, but simply out there for those who are looking for a short reprieve from their KHR/HP addiction. You've been warned.

* * *

Act III. Varia

Part 2

* * *

His 'home-tutor' came to him the next day.

Harry opened the door to a stocky blond man of about forty years of age, who had to be wearing the most ridiculous clothing and had the most idiotic grin on his face. Atop his head was a yellow miner's cap, and hoisted over his shoulder was one of the longest rock hammers Harry had ever seen.

He looked familiar for some reason, although Harry couldn't place where he'd seen the face before.

"Reborn sent you?" The dark haired boy asked instead.

The goofy grin dropped from the man's face, and Harry could have sworn that the man's eyes grew to an impossible size as he somehow radiated disappointment. "Boy, Reborn was right about you. Sharp as the tip of my chisel. I wanted to surprise you, too!"

Harry blushed. It wasn't so much that he had guessed that the man was related to the mafia as much as Harry's mind just running on overdrive.

Now that it was confirmed that this was indeed the teacher that Reborn had told him to expect, Harry could see the distinct way that the man held himself which might have differentiated him from most others. There was a tilt of his head and a tension around the shoulders suggested that the man was ready for anything, and despite the easy grin on his face, there was a look in his eyes that told Harry that the man could take Harry down much faster than Harry could take him.

But that hadn't been what had made Harry greet him with the confidence that he did.

Ever since Reborn had crashed his home and dropped off the ring which would guarantee the end to Harry's time of peace, the green eyed boy could not stop thinking about what he had been told. He'd even gone to sleep mulling over the hitman's words.

The whole morning, Harry had basically been waiting for either Reborn or one of his cohorts to return, and sure enough, just as the sun was nearing its peak, he'd heard the knock at his door.

"It's a rundown park," Harry replied with a shake of his head, "if you didn't already know that I lived here, there's no reason for you to go around knocking on the doors of different abandoned rides, is there?"

The man let out a laugh at Harry's words, "Ah, so it's the logic that got me. Hmm, maybe I should work on that. Iemitsu, by the way."

"Like the Shogun?" Harry asked in confusion. He hadn't really meant to ask it, but the question was out of his mouth before he could stop it. It was just so weird.

Iemitsu brightened immediately, "Yes! Wow, not many people know the origin of my namesake. I like you already, new pupil."

"That's, um, good?" Harry said hesitantly, not quite sure how to respond.

"It is good isn't it?" Iemitsu beamed.

Harry couldn't help but smile wryly. He would never understand what it was with the mafia and being so terrible at blending in. He thought of mentioning it, but somehow he got the distinct impression that any suggestion he made would be unlikely to help.

"Do you want to come in?" he asked instead, moving out of the doorway to allow the man easier access. He wasn't terribly worried about the man's eccentricities. It seemed that everyone even remotely connected to the mafia had something peculiar about them.

The man in the yellow helmet smiled, but didn't make the motion to enter, "Actually, I was thinking of having our lessons outside for a while, if you don't mind?"

"Oh," Harry blinked, because he hadn't known that they were starting lessons immediately. But now that he thought about it, it made sense. After all, Reborn had hired this man to raise Harry's skill level to the Varia's in less than ten days, so they didn't really have any time to waste, did they? "Oh yes, of course."

Blushing, Harry stepped out of the little house he had made for himself, closing the door behind him. It had been his automatic reaction to invite the man in and perhaps share some tea, as was wont of the impeccable manners Aunt Petunia had drilled into him for entertaining whatever guests Uncle Vernon might bring home on any given day. Japan was in some ways more observant of politeness than even bourgeois England, so it had literally never crossed Harry's mind _not_ to invite the man in.

Iemitsu led the way to who knows where, but he walked at a languid pace that was easy to keep up with and kept a steady stream of babble that was easy to connect with.

"Hey I just realized, it's a school day isn't it?" Iemitsu asked, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I called in sick today," Harry hastily replied. He couldn't help but wince a little at the thought of all the work that he was going to miss, "Actually I've already informed the school that I won't be attending for the next ten days. Even if you didn't arrive, I'd planned to do some training myself."

"Is that alright? You're a scholarship student after all."

Harry sighed, shrugging helplessly, "It can't be helped. The Varia… they're not just normal opponents, are they? I'm not sure how much I can do in ten days, but to protect Tsuna, I need to at least attempt to give it my all."

Was it Harry's imagination, or did the man look a little sad?

"You have good resolve," the man finally said, his voice, for the first time, completely serious. Harry did a double take, because he hadn't expected it. "Tsu-chan is really lucky to have you. For what it's worth, I apologize for dragging you into this."

Harry laughed uncertainly, attempting to shake the uncomfortable feeling that had settled upon them, "It's alright really. I mean, what kind of scholarship student would I be if I couldn't catch up on only ten days of work? And I haven't called in any sick days for my workplace in over a year."

"You still shouldn't—" Iemitsu cut himself off, running a hand through his hair. He glanced back, shooting Harry a frustrated look, "Honestly I didn't expect the Varia to move so quickly. I'd thought we had years."

"Not to question your judgement," Harry said cautiously, although inwardly he was doing just that, "but why haven't the people in Italy come here to help Tsuna out? He is the heir isn't he? I mean, in the end we're just middle schoolers, and surely there's more qualified people to protect Tsuna from the Varia?"

"It's Vongola politics," Iemitsu said with a shake of his head, looking unbelievably tired in that moment. And then he brightened, as if he'd never shown that weary side at all, "But maa, maa, what am I doing being so gloomy? You'll do great Harry-kun."

Harry wasn't so sure, but he recognized a diversion tactic when he saw one, and he wasn't so cruel as to force the topic.

"So um, are you a mid range fighter like me?" Harry asked, although he was pretty sure he already knew the answer to the question. After all, why else would Reborn send him?

To Harry's surprise, Iemitsu shook his head, "Actually, I'm a close range combatant."

Harry blinked, "Then…"

Iemitsu smiled wryly, looking as if he'd guessed the source of Harry's confusion. "I won't be teaching you how to fight. You already know the essential techniques for your weapon, and the rest is up to you to figure out. No, I'm here to teach you things that can be applied to any type of combat—the basics if you will."

Harry thought back to his fight with the silver haired man in the market center. How he'd been surpassed in just about everything. A wry smile tugged at the edge of his lips. Yes, he did need to work on some basics.

"Which ones though?" He asked, because he knew that there wasn't enough time to cover all of them.

"Your speed." Iemitsu paused. "It's already one of the highest of Tsuna's guardians, but you'll need to be higher still if you want to be the lightning guardian."

"'As quick as lightning, strike through the lies and deceit and get to the truth, to take out the enemy before they even become a threat' was it?" Harry mused.

Iemitsu beamed, "Wow! You know it already? Traditionally the Lightning Guardian is supposed to be strong and sturdy, 'the lightning rod which takes the damage of the family', but it doesn't suit your fighting style and there's no point in forcing something on you that you aren't. It'll just slow you down."

"So, ten days to work on my speed," Harry said, taking a breath.

"Well actually…" Iemitsu trailed off, looking away, "Working on your speed will be a side thing."

"Ha?"

For a reason that Harry was sure he'd dread, Iemitsu looked almost guilty, "There is one member of the Varia, Levi, who utilizes electricity in his battles. It's usually enough to put out an elephant, and while your speed at that time will probably be enough to avoid the shock, I can guarantee you that not all of Tsuna's guardians will. If you want to protect them, you'll have to learn to… redirect lightning."

There was a heartbeat of silence.

"Redirect…lightning?" Harry repeated weakly. One in five people died immediately from being struck by lightning, and seventy percent suffered severe enough injuries that they could never recover. It was a force of nature. It was ludicrous to think that he could manipulate it.

Iemitsu's lips were a thin line stretched all too tightly across his face, "I normally wouldn't suggest this at all unless you had the Bovina Family's Electro Curio, but something happened to you which made this proposal possible." The man paused, brown eyes as hard as chiselled coal. "You were able to jumpstart the unlocking of your dying will flames due to Mukuro's possession, and that opens up an amazing spectrum of possibilities."

It was the Dying Will Flames again.

"Alright," the dark haired boy said after taking a breath, "I'm open to possibilities. How would—Reborn didn't explain what exactly the Dying Will Flames were, but you're saying that they could—"

…_do the magical, impossible things. Like create pillars of flame from nothing, and manipulate the very forces of nature._

He'd seen it all, and yet sometimes he still had a hard time believing.

"It's not magic," Iemitsu said gently, "but it is the source of all lifeforms, yes. Let's see, how should I explain this…? Dying Will Flames can be described as a high density form of energy that's refined from one's own life force. Now every living thing has life energy you see, and life energy is one of the most powerful forces in nature. That's why with the Dying Will Flame, you can achieve feats that normally wouldn't seem possible—because you have a source of strength available to you that ordinary people would never encounter."

Harry kneaded his temple, trying to understand.

"Perhaps a little show and tell would be better?" Iemitsu asked, his eyes glinting. Without waiting for Harry's answer, he produced a thin stick about the length of two rulers.

"That's a, electric shock baton," Harry stuttered. He couldn't even begin to comprehend where Iemitsu had been hiding that.

"Yep," Iemitsu said, the word passing his lips with a faint 'pop'. He grinned, and suddenly stopped mid-step, tossing the object to Harry.

The dark haired boy caught it automatically, although he was unsure of what the man wanted him to do with it.

"Now," Iemitsu said, plopping down on the grass, "turn that thing on and hit me."

"_What?_"

"Just do it. Trust me you can't hurt me even if you wanted to. You can tell, right?"

Harry squeezed his eyes shut. Yes he could tell. The dark haired boy took a deep breath and steeled himself, green eyes snapping open. He pushed away his apprehension and turned on the device. Deadly sparks played across the tip of the baton.

"Ready?" Harry asked, and at Iemitsu's nod, Harry slammed the baton down on the yellow capped man.

Iemitsu caught the baton with one hand, fingers closing in around the tip. The other hand he had against the grass, fingers splayed out as his palm kissed the floor. Although Harry was half expecting it, he still couldn't help but be shocked (no pun intended) that Iemitsu was… well, wasn't shocked.

Despite the fact that the man was holding the baton exactly where most of the electricity was concentrated, and thus should have put him out if not burned his hand, Iemitsu sat like he was only here to enjoy meditating under the sky. The electricity wasn't affecting him at all, and instead the area around his other hand was starting to fry.

The grass curled in on itself around Iemitsu writhed with the ferocity of the electricity which he redirected. The scent of burnt leaves filled the air as the blackened area beneath Iemitsu's outspread palm began spreading in an ever increasing circle.

"And how about that?" Iemitsu asked with a faint smile on his face, tugging the electric shock baton from Harry's numb fingers.

"Alright," Harry said after taking a breath, his limbs feeling shaky from what he had just witnessed. On the whole of it, it wasn't the craziest thing he'd seen, but it wasn't every day that you discovered that everything you learned from science class was wrong. A human body made up of eighty percent water should not have been able to pass on electricity without feeling any effects, and yet Iemitsu had done just that. "Okay. But uh, why did the area around your hand burn up? This close to the ground, electricity should be able to pass through without disturbing anything around it."

"Well ideally someone with lightning attribute flames would be able to pass it completely into the ground, but lightning's not my specialty."

"Specialty?" Harry questioned, also seating himself on the grass when it became apparent that Iemitsu had no intention of getting up.

"Yes well, there isn't only one type of Flame. Yours for example, are lightning based, which is one of the reasons that we chose you as the lightning guardian. Mukuro's, which create illusions, are mist based. There are seven different attributes: Sky, Storm, Rain, Sun, Lightning, Mist, and Cloud. Each Flame's attribute has its own special characteristic. Sky is the unifying force and has the greatest propulsion power, and also has the basic characteristics of other types of flames. I have that one, which is why I can manipulate electricity, but not as well as someone with Lightning Flames. Storm decays and breaks things apart, Rain robs the target of strength and capacity of movement. Sun Flames are actually a support type and increase the power of others as well as heal, and Cloud has the greatest propagation. Of course, individuals who have mastered their given Flame attribute can then create special techniques, but other than Xanxus, the members of the Varia are not that far, so you do not have to worry about that."

In the world of the crazy mafia that had just been opened to him, that explanation made sense.

"Okay," Harry said wearily, "alright, I think I get that. How do they all translate into the real world though? People with lightning flames can redirect electricity, right? But how does somebody um, 'decay and break things apart'?"

Iemitsu actually flushed slightly, "Well actually, the final point of people with lightning flames isn't to redirect electrify—it's to make their own. I can't say much about the abilities of the current Guardians of the Vongola, but I can tell you that the Lightning Guardian of the Ninth can produce electricity that is at least ten times the potency of actual lightning."

Harry sucked in a startled breath. He waited for Iemitsu to say that it was a joke, but it was obvious that it wasn't coming. Letting out a small, disbelieving laugh, Harry covered his face, "You guys are crazy."

"Maybe slightly," Iemitsu said in an amused tone of voice. "But you won't get to that level for quite a while. Controlling the Dying Will Flames is something that takes years to master, and igniting your own, even more so. Tsuna has had six months to get to the point where he is now, and you'll have to get to that within ten days. In some ways you'll have the hardest task of all the guardians, but against an opponent like Levi, there's no better insurance than getting this down."

Harry took a breath. He'd nearly forgotten the reason he was here in the first place. He clenched his fists, determined. Even if this all seemed impossible, he'd do it. Otherwise he'd be a liability again like the last time a member of the Varia came. "So how are we going to train these lightning flames?"

"Well…" Iemitsu looked slightly guilty as he brought out another item he'd been hiding in his pocket.

It was a cattle prod.

* * *

The next few days passed in a blur of training.

It was only on the fifth day that Harry got any break at all, and that was during the night time when Iemitsu had said that he had sometime else that he needed to take care of.

Harry took the time to make some tea; a pleasure he'd had to forgo in the wake of the tiring training and the bone deep aches that never seemed to go away resulting from it. True to his word, Iemitsu had worked him to the bone, and Harry was often too tired when he came home to enjoy the small pleasures.

For the past five days he'd been working with Iemitsu to increase how much electricity he could redirect. They'd moved from cattle prods to stun guns to something just a bit more.

The shocks themselves were terrible enough. Iemitsu worked at a fast pace and didn't allow Harry much breathing space before demanding that he try an exercise again. But, Harry noted dryly, at least he now knew how to push his body through the motions even if he couldn't feel his legs anymore.

As if wanting to break him from his depressing thoughts, the kettle chose that moment to give a keening wail, signalling that the water was done being boiled. Little cotton balls of steam puffing out of the nuzzle like a baseball machine. Despite himself, Harry couldn't help but smile as he reached over to turn the machine off.

Iemtisu had done some more explaining about what exactly Dying Will Flames were whenever Harry hit a mental block. He'd learned over the past few days that the 'inner flame' powered corporeal flames which could then appear in the physical world, which Iemitsu did another impressive demonstration of.

The more mastery one had over their inner flames, which was called the Dying Will, the more mastery one could exert over their physical flames. The strength of the flames depended on one's resolve, but that too could be trained through meditation.

Meditation wasn't fun. Although Iemitsu pushed Harry to the limit, he was very careful not to go over the limit. Apparently Harry's body could only handle so many shocks, so Harry was set to mediate during the down times.

Sitting around and calming his mind when he knew that the silver haired man and the others were coming in a few days felt like wasting time though. He had skipped school for the past five days for this reason. Meditating during his lessons just didn't feel enough.

Thankfully Iemitsu had noticed his restlessness, and had set Harry on some other types of training too. It was mostly agility training, which had given Harry more bruises than he wished to admit, but at least it felt like he was doing something.

It was tiresome, painful work, but it was worth it.

He allowed his hand to glide over the plug from the kettle to the outlet, narrowing his eyes slightly as he concentrated on the flames within him. The outlet sparked, and a moment later it had moved, travelling from its place within the wires to Harry's hand.

Harry smiled as the static-like light danced across his fingertips, jumping from one digit to the other like a playful kitten. While he couldn't do much with electricity yet, it was still a vast improvement over the course of five days, considering he hadn't even known that such a thing was possible previously.

It was just then that the phone rang.

The flicker of blue flames died off.

He fumbled for a bit in his pockets, and finally he produced his cell and flipped it open. Holding it up to his ear, Harry cocked his head, "Hello?"

"Harry-kun," Reborn's unreadable tenor intoned from the other end, "Varia has discovered that the rings are fakes and they are likely in Japan right now. They're probably after you right now."

"Well isn't that news for sore ears?" Harry mumbled, his tea forgotten as he changed direction towards the living room. "Weren't we supposed to have ten days?"

"It appears that we may have miscalculated a bit. Tsuna and the others are coming to you now, but be on the lookout for anyone suspicious."

It was just then that a jarring sensation flooded through the room.

Narrowing his eyes, Harry moved across his living room and slipped out into the night. Three figures immediately greeted his sight. They weren't exactly easy to notice, but it didn't appear as if they were trying to hide themselves either.

"Thanks for the heads up," Harry said, and flipped closed his phone.

It looked like it was time to put Iemitsu's lessons up to the test.

"This is 04," one of the figures was whispering into the collar of his coat, as if he were part of some bad spy movie. "Target has just arrived."

Without another word, the man leaped down from his perch, landing with a flutter of his trench coat about eight feet in front of the darker haired boy. A moment later, the two other figures that Harry had spotted joined him.

"You're not here to say hi, I suppose?" Harry asked, smiling tightly.

The men didn't answer. Without warning they lunged, flying towards him from three points.

Harry readied his chain, and engaged.

It didn't, surprisingly, take all that much effort to take the men down. Even when a fourth member joined them, the group was still easy to handle and Harry had them all lying around him defeated within minutes.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows at the fallen, groaning figures, "You're not the Varia."

They'd had nowhere near the speed or skill of Squalo, and while they were better than the average people Harry had fought, he was also fairly confident that he could have taken them even without the training Reborn insisted on.

His thoughts were interrupted before he could get any further however.

"Potter-san! POTTER-SAN!"

Harry turned at the all too familiar voice, and a moment later Sawada Tsunayoshi arrived on the scene, panting heavily as he skidded to a stop as soon as he was within Harry's sight. Reborn had arrived in a line parallel to Tsuna, stopping on one of the fence posts of Kokuyo.

Tsuna's eyes widened as he took in the four figures that lay at Harry's feet, just a hint of awe entering his voice, "Potter-san… you took care of all of them already?"

Reborn hopped off the post, bonking his student on the head in the process, "Of course Dame-Tsuna. He's not like you."

Harry frowned. He knew he shouldn't but into Reborn's and Tsuna's relationship, but he didn't like Tsuna being put down like that. He opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted again.

"Vongola Familiga's Guardian of the Sun and Colonnelo's best disciple, Sasagawa Ryohei, is here!"

"Tch, I came here looking for a chance to test my new skills. Did you have to take all of them down Potter?"

"Maa, maa, the important thing is that Potter-san is safe, isn't it?"

Tsuna immediately brightened, "Nii-san! Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto-san! You're all here!"

"Tenth!" Gokudera greeted with a beam, before turning to the figures lying at Harry's feet with a thoughtful look on his face, "You know, not to bash your skills or anything Potter, but I thought that the Varia would be harder to fight than this."

Reborn was already shaking his head, "Those are just the underlings of the Varia. The really scary ones are…" the arcobaleno suddenly paused mid-sentence, looking up, "He's coming."

They all followed Reborn's gaze, just in time to see one of the Varia land on one of the rooftops that his partners had previously occupied. He had clothing like the shadows, and eight swords strapped to his back. Long black hair was gelled up in spikes, and coupled with the narrow eyes and lip piercing, he might have passed for a child trying to pretend to be Yakuza if not for the dangerous aura that surrounded him.

As it was, the feeling that came from him was a distinctly ominous one.

This was one of the true members of the Varia.

The dark haired man looked down at his fallen subordinates, but all that showed on his face was detachment. And then he met Harry's gaze, "Hm, looks like you have some skill."

Harry smiled thinly, "To be complimented by you… somehow it doesn't feel that good."

The man's eyes narrowed, and one of his hands reached back to rest on the hilt of his sword.

"H—hey!" Tsuna cried, "Can't we just talk this out?"

"My business is the one who wields the Ring of Thunder, the kid with glasses. If you interrupt, I'll eliminate you all!"

Before Levi could make good on his threat however, five heavy presences filled the air and not able to help himself, Harry shivered. The spiky haired man paused, just as five others jumped onto his platform, revealing themselves.

One of them, Harry noted, was the silver haired man from before. He found his eyes narrowing in spite of himself.

"Hold it Levi," one of the others, a man with what appeared to be a Mohawk, said with a sarcastic little smile, "you shouldn't hunt them on your own…"

What followed could only be called an argument over desert. Harry gritted his teeth as the silver haired man also laid his claim on Yamamoto and then proceeded to argue with the man whom Harry could only assume to be Levi over who would kill who first. It was as if they did not believe that Tsuna's group could be a threat at all.

In a way Harry supposed it was a blessing, since if they were underestimated they were that much more likely to win, but he had pride too. Even if they might not be able to win, they still should not be talked about like that.

He opened his mouth to angrily cut in, and that was when the sensation hit him.

The amount of killer intent was incredible.

Harry tensed, and that was when a sixth person joined the five on the rooftop. It was not as if the others did not have presence, but this one had seemed to have an aura that dwarfed everyone's around him and was impossible to ignore.

"There he is," Reborn murmured, some foreign emotion hidden beneath those glittering black eyes, "I never thought that day where I would see him again would come… Xanxus."

And then, quite suddenly, the killer intent increased tenfold.

Tsuna gave a cry and fell to the floor. Gokudera and Yamamoto seemed frozen. Harry turned to Reborn with wide eyes, silently demanding the acrobaleno to tell him what was going on.

The scarred man raised an arm, his hand in a claw-like formation. His eyes were dark and glittering with something bestial. "Sawada Tsunayoshi..."

Even the other members of the Varia seemed alarmed.

"No way Boss, you're suddenly using that…!"

"Are you planning to kill us too?!"

"This is bad," Reborn said with a hint of urgency in his voice, and it was that which alerted Harry. Reborn, as far as Harry could tell, had never sounded worried before. "_Run_."

"…DIE!"

But Xanxus's promise never came through. The attack was released; Harry felt that, but someone stopped it before it reached them. Something came flying from the woods and landed directly in front of the scarred man, sticking up from the ground as if it were some kind of barrier preventing them from moving further. It was a pickaxe.

Harry's eyes widened. No way.

"We're, saved?" Tsuna panted, looking as if he didn't dare to believe it.

"Hold it Xanxus," an all too familiar voice called out, "that's enough! From here on, I'll take charge of things."

They all turned as one to face the newcomer, and Harry had to hold back a laugh as he saw the shape of his mentor standing languidly against the moonlight looking for all the world as if he'd just come out for a midnight stroll. Iemitsu was grinning from ear to ear.

Harry wanted to grin too, until that is, Tsuna spoke.

"D…DAD?" Tsuna yelped, looking beyond shocked.

There was a heartbeat of silence.

Dread, that was what he felt.

Gokudera exclaimed his surprise that the man was Tsuna's dad, but Harry found that he wasn't shocked, not really.

Iemitsu and the Varia had began speaking now, but Harry wasn't paying attention. He was too busy trying to reconcile the fact that his mentor for the past five days had been that same absentee father of Tsuna.

He couldn't believe it. Except that he could.

It didn't stop the horrible churning feeling in his gut however.

Tsuna's father was a terrible man who had abandoned him and left his child helpless. Tsuna's father was a man who nonchalantly strolled back into town after three years away and expected everything to be the same. Iemitsu was the kind and encouraging mentor who made sure to explain every concept if Harry was confused. Iemitsu was someone who cared about Tsuna and his guardians.

He thought maybe he'd known it all along, but just hadn't wanted to acknowledge it. After all, Iemitsu hadn't really been trying to hide the fact that he was Tsuna's father. But he hadn't brought it up either.

There were a lot of hints; the familiar face, the fond way he referred to Tsuna, and even their freaking names!

He just hadn't wanted to think that another one of his teachers was a complete douchbag.

Harry shook his head, and decided that he needed to focus his attention on what was happening. He could think about the implications of Iemitsu's identity later.

As Iemitsu and the Varia hashed out guidelines pertaining to the Vongola, Reborn took it upon himself to inform them all of the purposes of the rings. Two girls who Harry completely failed to sense showed up, and somehow or another, a battle for each ring was decided upon.

"Did that… just happen?" Tsuna asked dazedly as soon as the Varia had left, who didn't seem to feel the need to stay now that they knew the time and place to rightfully take the rings. "Are we really going to…?"

Yamamoto, who had been looking after the silver haired man more seriously than Harry had ever seen him, blinked as if a spell had just been broken. Shaking his head, he turned and flashed a beaming smile at the worried brunette, "Don't worry Tsuna, we won't let you down!"

"Yeah! We'll win for sure! EXTREMELY!" Pumping his fists in the air, Sasagawa dashed out of Kokuyo, although where he was going Harry had no idea.

"Ahh—ahh, that's not what I—" Tsuna protested, only to be interrupted by Gokudera.

"Don't worry Tenth! We'll take care of it!" The ever faithful right hand man said as he steered a dazed Tsuna towards his house, "We'll win all the battles before your turn and you won't even have to worry about fighting that Xanxus character, although of course you'd win if you did. You can have a nice long rest and not worry about this or…"

Gokudera's voice grew fainter and fainter as he and Tsuna moved. With an apologetic look at Harry, Yamamoto chased after them.

"One to seven days to prepare," Harry muttered and glanced at Reborn, who hadn't left yet with Tsuna for some reason or another. "I suppose I'm supposed to think 'that's lucky', right?"

Reborn, who was still standing on one of the fence posts of Kokuyo to make him appear at eye level with everyone else, simply cocked a brow, "You don't think we're ready?"

Harry's lips twisted, and he looked away. It was not that he did not want to believe, but the fact of the matter was that they were only kids. That wasn't to say that he believed that they should just lay there and take it, but he was realistic, too. "We're up against professional assassins. Even if we've improved a lot, can we really defeat a group like the Varia?"

Reborn however, only shook his head, "You underestimate yourself. Think back to your fight with Xanxus's Rain Guardian. Don't you think you could defeat him now?"

Harry hummed as he closed his eyes, picturing that laughing man with the silver hair. His speed. His movements.

"From what he's revealed, maybe," Harry finally murmured, "but their real ability is beyond even that, isn't it?"

Reborn let out a sigh, "If only Tsuna had your instinct. He wouldn't need hyper-intuition. Don't worry Harry-san, you stand a fair chance. Especially you."

Harry ran a hand through his hair, his lips compressing into a thin line. He didn't like where any of this going, and he had to admit that his stomach was getting butterflies from even thinking about this. But still, he had a responsibility now. "On Fuuta's list… am I still Number Two?"

"You are, so if it's not you who'll seize victory, who will?"

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Harry sighed. He didn't want to be the one that everyone would depend on. While a part of him couldn't help but be flattered by the fact that he was needed, there was a larger part born from years of living with the Dursleys that couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to fail. "I don't suppose that Hibari could be the leading champion?"

"Ah," Reborn's voice was even, with not the slightest hint of surprise present, "so you know about that too?"

Harry only gave Reborn a dry look, "You want to win the fight with Varia too, and as much as I disagree with his methods, I do admit that Hibari is an amazing combatant. I didn't think you'd overlook it."

"That's true, but as you've already guessed, he isn't leader material."

"Neither am I."

Reborn didn't reply for a long moment, which surprised Harry. Usually the baby had a retort before he even finished his sentence. Instead, the baby just took a long, hard look at Harry, almost as if he were searching the green eyed boy's soul.

Harry shifted, uncomfortable with the sudden scrutiny.

"You'd be surprised," Reborn said, and with that cryptic comment, he hopped off the fencing post and disappeared into the night.

The next day came too early. Iemitsu never showed up for training. Instead he'd left a message for Harry that he was needed in Italy and he was sorry but he wouldn't be able to make it for the next few days. Harry greeted that note with some sense of relief.

He still didn't know what to do about the revelation that Iemitsu was Tsuna's dad, and quite frankly he wasn't sure if he had time for a confrontation.

Harry practiced by himself. Thankfully he'd gotten most of the theory down, so it was solely up to himself to master the rest. He doubted he could do it by the time that his battle was called up, but he had to try.

Soon day turned into night, and Harry seriously debated going to the first ring battle or staying home to perfect his skills some more. In the end he decided that he should support everyone.

He arrived at the meeting place just before Tsuna. He greeted everyone, but he could see that nobody's heart was really in it. They were all worried about the first match.

Finally the Cervello arrived, and with them the Varia. The first battle was unveiled to be the clash of the Sun Guardians, and without hesitation, Sasagawa stepped up to the plate.

It was a brutal battle. While Sasagawa was not one of Harry's regular friends, he did know that the boxing champion had always been kind to him and always encouraging. It was all Harry could do not to step in as his classmate was beaten again and again, and not by fair tactics either.

And then Colonnelo showed up, and Sasagawa's sister too, and somehow Tsuna's Sun Guardian managed to pull a victory.

Lussuria was taken out not by the honourable boxing captain, but by his own team.

"'Erasing the weak.' One of the reasons Varia is the strongest team of all," Reborn explained to the shocked bystanders, "Lussuria was scared of that; that was why he was so anxious to continue."

Harry's lips pressed into a thin line at those words. He knew there was a reason he didn't like the Varia.

Cervello announced the closing of the battle and what the next one would be. Harry could barely feel surprise that it was his. After all, he'd been preparing for it. And then Sasagawa's sister arrived on scene and complicated matters immensely. They all tried to assure her that it wasn't as it seemed, and in the end, she appeared placated.

Tsuna received the completed Sun Ring, and the final task done, they all decided to head on home. Sasagawa took his sister and her friend with him, and Harry might have been surprised at the speed at which Yamamoto and Gokudera left if it weren't for the fact that he knew they'd be training as soon as they hit their rooms. It left Tsuna and Harry, who'd be walking the same stretch for a while before they split up.

"Shall we go then?" Harry smiled, trying to make the atmosphere light even when he was feeling anything but.

Tsuna nodded and they began walking back to their respective houses, but it was obvious that something was on the lighter haired boy's mind.

"The battle between the lightning guardians is tomorrow," Tsuna finally said, his voice quiet. If Harry hadn't been listening for it, he might have missed it entirely.

"I know."

"It's just… after seeing Nii-san's battle, aren't you worried?"

Harry sighed. It wasn't as if he hadn't thought about it. During the whole match, it was hard to get it off his mind.

The initial setup of the stage, the difference in ability… to be honest as much as he hated the Varia taking out their own teammate, some part of him felt relieved that this group apparently decided that someone was hopeless after a single mistake. With Sasagawa injured as he was, Lussuria probably could have won in the end if his team did not interfere.

"Worried or not, I can't let Sasagawa-san down and not win, can I?"

Tsuna was quiet for a long, worrying moment.

When he finally spoke again, his voice was soft, "Potter-san, I didn't get to tell you this yesterday but… you don't have to do this you know?"

Harry blinked, nearly stopping as he glanced at Tsuna.

"It's just," the younger boy continued, poking his fingers together, "you're—you're—"

"I'm…?" Harry prompted, confused.

"You're normal!" Tsuna finally blurted. He bit his lip and looked away, running a hand through his hair in agitation, "Potter-san, you're not like the others, I know it! Even Yamamoto is… I love them, but they're not… so you shouldn't have to do this."

"He has a scar on his forehead that looks like a lightning bolt," Reborn commented blithely, appearing out of nowhere and landing on Tsuna's head, "he is most suited to be your lightning guardian."

"Reborn!"

Reborn shrugged, and hopped off Tsuna's head to walk alongside them.

Harry didn't know whether to be offended or amused, but one look at Tsuna's worried face and the decision was made for him.

"I'm far from normal Tsuna-kun," Harry said instead, his voice gentle as he tried to reassure the younger boy. He thought back to those dark days at the Dursleys, the things he had done to survive at Stonewall, Mukuro… no, he couldn't be called normal. He never had been; no matter how much he had wished for it. "Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I left you to take care of this on your own?"

"I just," Tsuna sighed, "Nii-san shouldn't have been involved in this in the first place. How hurt he was today… how can I stand it if all my friends become like that because of me? You guys have to fight incredibly scary people because of me, and I don't want that. So Potter-san, please reconsider this."

"You've been trying to convince the others to back out too, haven't you?" Harry asked in realization. He was touched that Tsuna was considering them like that, but then, it wasn't something so unexpected from the brown haired boy. He smiled, "Saying something like that… I think I could probably fight with no inhibitions."

Tsuna groaned and buried his face in his hands, "That's the exact opposite of what I want to happen!"

Harry laughed. He supposed that he could see the source of Tsuna's frustration, but Tsuna needed to realize that they had their reasons too.

"Look Tsuna, we're your friends. How can we leave you to deal with this by yourself?" He said, cocking his head, "Honestly, you deserve this battle less than the rest of us, but you're sticking through with it, aren't you? So don't think of it as that we're trying to protect you… really it's more like we're just all fighting through this together."

Tsuna looked at him, wide-eyed, and then his expression softened, "Potter-san, how do you always know just the right thing to say?"

"Not sure," Harry joked, "I'm just fumbling through it all, and I guess something has to hit bullseye, right?"

Tsuna shook his head. "That's not it. You're…" He straightened suddenly, a determined glint in his eyes. The person he was looking at however, wasn't Harry. "Reborn! Let's get that Dying Will thing down!"

The was just the faintest trace of a smile across the arcobaleno's lips, "Finally, Dame-Tsuna."

They eventually did split up, with Tsuna heading back to his house and Harry back to Kokuyo. The next day Harry did no training, and instead worked to catch up on his schoolwork. Despite what he had told Iemitsu, he had managed to fall behind.

It wasn't that he was not nervous about the battle that would take place later that day. In fact it was just the opposite. He didn't dare to train because he didn't want to strain himself, and he wanted to be well rested for the fight.

Finally night fell and with it came the rain. It wasn't until Harry was halfway to Nammimori where the battle would be taking place that he had the thought that the date might have been chosen on purpose to coincide with the weather.

He greeted the others at the base of Nammimori, only to be led to the rooftops by the Cervello and have the battlefield explained. Like he had suspected, it wasn't just a normal arena.

The representative for the Varia was already waiting.

"Come on Sawada!" Sasagawa exclaimed excitedly, grabbing Tsuna by the arm, "We're gonna do the usual again!"

"Ehh…? The usual…?!"

Before Harry knew what was happening, he was being dragged into a group huddle much like the one they'd done for Sasagawa before his fight.

"OOOOHHHH! HARRY FIGHT!"

Harry laughed as he straightened, wondering if the rain could hide the blush that had crawled up his neck. He'd never done something like that before, and he had to admit that it made him feel… safe and included?

"You'd better not mess this up Potter."

"Potter-san good luck!"

"Go for it Potter! Bring us an EXTREME victory yeah!"

"Potter-san," Tsuna started in a worried tone just before they all vacated the rooftops. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then sighed. Something of a smile made its way across his face, and Harry knew then without a doubt that Tsuna had changed what he was about to say, "If anyone can win, it's you, so I…I'll depend on you."

With a final nod, Tsuna ran back into the building, as if he were afraid of what he had just said. But the words had been sincere.

Harry was touched beyond measure.

"Are you guys done being girls?" Leviathan sneered.

Harry smiled grimly, his right settling on the chain wrapped around his waist as he shifted his attention back to his opponent, "Not really, but it's hard to have a nice talk with someone like you around."

One lip was still curled upwards in disgust, "Do you really think you can defeat me?"

"There's only one way to find out now, isn't there?"

"Then now, the battle for the thunder ring, Harry vs Leviathan… you may begin now!"

Harry wasted no time. What was it that Iemitsu said? He had to strike first.

Leviathan was a member of the Varia, an elite assassination force. Harry held no hopes that the man would have any obvious openings that Harry could wait to observe and then exploit. He would create his own openings.

Harry dashed forward, whipping out his chain with a heavy force. The sky lighted up overhead, and a moment later lightning raced down one of the poles and lit up the wires. Harry didn't bother to stop moving. Instead he leapt up into the air, spinning high as the ground discharged and avoiding the shock entirely.

Leviathan met him halfway across the stage. The man raised one of his rapiers in a blocking position as Harry brought his chain downwards, metal meeting metal in a resounding 'clang. Leviathan followed up by slashing his sword to the right, redirecting Harry's chain and making it harder for him to regain command of it.

But Harry was far from an amateur in using his weapon. He flicked his wrist, using the momentum Leviathan had already set to whip the end of the chain back to Harry, and catching that end with his other hand. He landed just in time for Leviathan to come at him with his rapier, obviously intending to use Harry's momentary lack of balance to take advantage. Harry quickly raised his chain, stretching it taunt to block the blow.

Taking advantage, Harry twisted his wrist the tip of the sword, capturing Leviathan's weapon with his own. The man wasted no time in striking out with his feet, but Harry was prepared for that too.

Using the rapier he had just captured as his grounding point, the boy with green eyes pushed off the ground to avoid the strike. Under the weight of one fourteen year old boy, Leviathan couldn't hold onto his weapon any longer. The sword jerked from Leviathan's grip just as Harry flipped over the man. The weapon went skidding across the floor.

Leviathan snarled and twisted to face Harry to deal him a blow that would pay him back for disarming one of the Varia, but the skies lit up again and a pillar of lightning flooded one of the electric circlets, forcing the two apart lest they take a misstep in their fighting and be destroyed by the natural forces surrounding them.

They both landed a few feet from where they had engaged. The area now was rippling with electricity, making it impossible for them to break the barrier and connect again for the precious few seconds.

"First strike goes to me," Harry said, a mocking smile playing across his lips, still bouncing on the balls of his feet. While he didn't exactly like disrespecting others so blatantly, because overconfidence usually resulted in loss, he did have to admit it did something fierce for making his opponents furious. And aggravated people made mistakes.

Sure enough, Leviathan let out a low growl, the noise rumbling deep in the back of his throat.

The lightning died down and Leviathan struck. Harry made to scatter another one of Leviathan's rapiers, but it didn't work out quite like last time.

Leviathan caught Harry's wrist.

Harry's eyes widened.

"That trick won't work twice," the man growled, and slammed Harry's body down onto the pavement.

Harry let out a groan, but he didn't have any time to do anything else as the sky flashed once again. Eyes widening, Harry quickly rolled out of the way of the wires he had landed on, just barely avoiding being fried by the amplified lightning.

When he was able to get to his feet again, he could see that Leviathan was already a small distance away, no doubt having vacated the danger zone as soon as he saw the sky change color.

Leviathan gave a spiteful smile when he saw that Harry had stood again, "First blood goes to me."

Harry blinked, a little confused, and it was then that he caught his reflection on one of the pillars. A hand rose to his face, surprised. His hand brushed the side of his cheek, and when it came away, there was blood on his fingertips. He must have cut himself on the wires while rolling away.

Harry narrowed his eyes, and they engaged again.

They broke apart as the wires on the floor flared again with amplified lightning, each skidding off to an empty patch of safe ground.

Harry looked up to the sky with slight frustration. It was the third time that lightning had broken up their battle before it could really turn into anything, and now he was wondering if it really was a good thing. With Leviathan's body structure, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that he probably had more stamina, and if this fight came down to which side fumbled first, Harry wasn't sure if he could win.

It seemed that Leviathan came to the same conclusion.

"This battle is taking too long," the dark haired man said, narrowing his eyes, "it's time to end this."

"I couldn't agree more," Harry said tightly, shifting his chain to get a better grip.

Leviathan gave a nasty smile… and then sheathed his weapon.

Harry's eyes barely had time to widen before the seven rapiers collected on the man's back flew out from their sheaths, the fabric which Harry had assumed to be protective covering spreading out like wings and carrying the swords to the sky.

It didn't take even a second for Harry to be surrounded by the umbrella-like contraptions.

Harry's head snapped up to try and make sense of Leviathan's actions, and when he saw what the miniature machines were, he couldn't help but suck in a startled breath, "Conductors…!"

Leviathan gave a nasty grin, "That's right. And unlike this lovely floor that the Cervello have prepared for us, there's no way to avoid my weapon."

Harry gritted his teeth. If there was no way to avoid the attack, then the only thing to do was to take out Leviathan before his weapon could fully charge. He dashed towards the man, chain held tightly in his grip in preparation to take the man down.

The satellite dishes sparked, and discharged.

Harry hadn't made it three steps.

A scream ripped from his throat as the lightning struck him. He couldn't continue, he couldn't. Pain poured through him, as if some dam had been released and everything that could hurt was now hurting. Liquid fire filled his veins—no, doing more than that—it felt as if it were ploughing through his veins, not caring for the destruction it left in its wake.

He thought he'd heard a worried 'Harry-san!' but his mind was conjuring up too many different sounds and images for him to be sure.

And then, as quickly as it had come, the agonizing fire left him, but it had already done its part.

He fell to his knees, gasping, a hand clutched over his chest. His heart was thudding so hard he dazedly wondered how it hadn't broken out of his rib cage. His body was shaking, and he could not stop it.

He felt as if acid had just burned through his veins, destroying every bit of him possible and rendering him lame. He let out a shaky breath and tried to get up, knowing that this wasn't the place to be immobilized by pain, but found that his limbs wouldn't obey him.

He couldn't move.

"Oh?" Leviathan smirked, his voice cruel and casual, "You're still alive? Guess I didn't put enough juice into that one. I'll remedy it now."

Harry's eyes widened.

The umbrellas puffed out again, static dancing around the metal holdings as they charged for another attack, but this time, Harry knew what was coming.

He gritted his teeth, willing his lame body to move move _move_. He'd been blindsided by the attack, but Leviathan had just given him the answer. It'd all come to nothing though if he couldn't _move_.

Somehow, through his sheer determination alone, he managed to make his body twitch. Although his legs were still shaking from the effort and his head felt woozy, Harry somehow managed to stand again, facing Leviathan equally.

Leviathan had just stated his surprise at Harry being alive, which meant that the umbrella trick was a finishing move. There could only be one reason that Harry was still alive. It was a small, far off chance, because Harry had never trained for something as big as this, but it was a chance nonetheless.

It was now or never.

Harry lashed out, letting loose his chain just as the umbrellas discharged. Leviathan, who'd obviously not been expecting Harry to do anything, was a split second too late to avoid the chain that had descended upon him.

The chain wrapped around Leviathan's upper arm just as the lightning struck him.

Harry gasped as the currents rushed through him, and little spots of white appeared behind his eyes, threatening to pull him into the realm of oblivion to which he could never wake from again. But he held on, reaching for the place deep inside him just as Iemitsu had taught him to.

It was Leviathan's time to scream as Harry successfully redirected the lightning using his dying will. The pound of static force rippled down Harry's chain, ploughing head on into the Varia's guardian's body.

The lightning left as quickly as it came, and not a moment too soon, as Harry released the last remnants of his control with a pant. His arms shaking, the chain dropped from Harry's grip, falling to the floor with a loud clang. Staggering, Harry stumbled to the side a few steps, stopping directly beneath one of the lightning rods and leaning upon it for support.

It was a pretty stupid move actually, because if natural lightning were to take to the skies again, he now had a high chance of being shocked. But he couldn't help it. He felt like he couldn't stand without help, and being up against one lightning rod was better than lying in the center, where all the lightning would be concentrated if the skies split open again.

As he'd thought, redirecting something this big was still too much for him. He felt completely unbalanced, and it was taking all his willpower to keep down the dinner that was threatening to heave up from his stomach. But he had done it nonetheless.

A thin smile made its way across his face as he rested his head against the pole, looking towards Varia's lightning guardian. The cruel faced man was completely still, a look of shock on his face as he stood with his arms outstretched, Harry's chain still hanging from his arm.

Struck by his own finishing move, the man couldn't budge his body even the slightest bit. This wasn't a trick. Harry could taste it.

His smile turned into a look of horror as Leviathan toppled backwards, and over the rooftops.

A second later Leviathan's voice rose over the sound of the storm, assuring Harry that he hadn't died, yet.

"Help!" The man cried, his voice crazed with fear. He was hanging on the edge of the roof, but with the slick surface and the reason attack he'd just taken, Harry could tell that it was just barely.

With the height of the building, there was no way that the man could survive if he fell.

Harry's body twanged and twitched, and his mind felt overtired from using the flames in such a way. He hurt everywhere, and there was nothing more that he wanted to do except to sleep and forget this whole day.

But he couldn't, could he?

He briefly closed his eyes, steeling himself, and began to shakily walk to where Leviathan was holding on.

He stopped at the edge of the roof and kneeled, holding out an arm to the older man.

"Take my hand," he called over the raging storm.

Leviathan didn't need to be told twice. The man grasped onto Harry's arm like it was his lifeline, and Harry had to wince a little at the painful grip. Gritting his teeth, Harry strained his body backwards, and it was with gasp that he finally pulled Leviathan back onto the roof.

The two of them just sat there for a moment, breathing heavily, with the pitter patter of the rain to accompany them.

"You shouldn't have helped me," Leviathan said when his breathing was finally under control. He had his head down, the gel having long since been washed from his hair and hiding his face from view.

"A—an—anyone w—would ha—have," Harry managed to get out, his teeth chattering. Now that all the adrenaline was dying down, he realized how cold it was, and it certainly didn't help that he felt as if he were about to keel over from taking Leviathan's lightning. Twice.

"No I mean it." He looked up, and there was something of a deranged grin on his face, "But I'm glad that you did."

Leviathan turned over his hand, revealing one of the conductor rapiers that had fallen with him. Harry's eyes widened, but he didn't nearly have enough time to react as Leviathan surged forward, spearing the weapon into Harry's stomach.

Harry's back arched as he cried out in shock and pain. He toppled over sideways, hitting the floor with a loud 'thud' and sending up a spray of water with the fall.

"Y—you—" Harry gasped weakly, staring at the man in disbelief. Leviathan swam in and out of his vision, interspersed by black dots and blurry colors.

There was an unholy glee in Leviathan's eyes, "You really shouldn't have saved me, fool. Now I'm going to make you regret ever turning my own weapon against me."

And then his world blinked out.

* * *

A/n: Nrrghh… keeping up this updating once every six months thing is hard. But for your continued support, here is your Varia Part 2. I'm so mad at Reborn! manga right now for getting good again with the revelations of Bermuda, and then completely destroying the plotline. I guess the author wanted to end it but seriously…


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